X-Men 193: Warhunt II

Pages 1-2 (Banshee)

At the top of our splash page is a panel across the top showing a view of Muir Island

Muir Isle.

As he rounds the headland, beginning the last long stretch to home and hearth, Sean Cassidy’s thoughts are on the stitch in his right side, the bitter cold pre-dawn air slicing deep into his lungs and the look on his lady love’s face when he gets home. He circles the island every morning, a ten-mile run, and today he’s making superb time, possibly his personal best.

He’s tired, but he feels like he can go on forever. In all his rough and tough, helter-skelter life he’s never been happier, or more at peace with his past.

So of course, he gets nailed.

The next panel, taking up 4/5ths of the page, is Thunderbird leaping out of nowhere to tag Sean with a kick to the head, yelling “Hokahey!

Sean: “Wha-Ugh!”

Stan Lee proudly presents the 100th issue of the ‘New” Uncanny X-Men!

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

Years ago Sean was a top operative for Interpol – the international police agency – and later as Banshee, a super hero, first freelance, then as a member of the Uncanny X-Men He learned to fight from some of the nastiest men in the business, and although officially retired he has kept himself in superb shape. None of that matters. The few punches he lands don’t even slow his assailant down.

Who? Sean thinks, pulling himself up from the ground after taking another hit. Who could it be? His skill and power, they’re on par with Wolverine!

“Don’t you recognize me, Irish?” his assailant taunts him, “I’m hurt how quickly some forget the ones they’ve murdered!”

He finally gets a good look at his opponent in the dawn light and gasps “Impossible! Johnny, it can’t be you – I saw you die!”

“Then I’m a ghost. And unless your precious teammates do precisely what I say –“ the final punch lands on Sean’s jaw, and we can’t be sure he even hears Thunderbird’s closing words “—you’ll be one too.”

Page 3 (Nightcrawler)

Kurt walks into the infirmary in the X-Mansion to find Nurse Sharon Friedlander looking over the unconscious Charles Xavier. Xavier is pale but doesn't appear to be injured.

Kurt approaches quietly and stands beside Sharon silently for a moment, regarding the Professor.

He breaks the silence, hesitantly. "Is he...?"

"He's... OK," Sharon says. "The effort of helping Dr. Corbeau at Starcore was clearly exhausting, and then he over-extended himself helping to direct the conflict against the Wraiths* yesterday. When he collapsed at the end of that conflict I was worried - he had an arrhythmia and very shallow breathing - but after a night on mild sedatives to force him to sleep he's definitely improved.

[*ED see issue 192 and Rom 65 for more details!]

If this is improved the Professor's appearance must have been dire the previous day.

"Improved? That is good." Kurt looks at the sleeping man and sounds doubtful. "I hope we can give him all the time he needs to recover. God grant he recovers quickly. We need his steady hand to guide us, now more than ever."

Sharon looks nervous as she changes the topic "Kurt, that thing that Storm did, with Magneto, what's going to happen?"

Kurt winces. "Honestly? I have not the faintest idea, Sharon. Ororo knows what she's doing. I have to believe that. But she may have thrown us into unmarked territory. The X-Men haven't much practice in the spotlight. We're not the Fantastic Four or the Avengers after all. It can't hurt that thousands of people across the globe feel gratitude to a mutant benefactor. Gratitude is easily spent however.

"Ach, when Storm put me in the leadership position for the team I didn't think she was going to make us world famous overnight too. I am so going to have words with that woman when I see her!"

He lowers his voice and looks apologetically at the professor. "If I see her," he adds under his breath.

The Professor opens his eyes, "Good morning. It is still morning, isn't it?"

He sits up, and discovers the IV in his arm. "Nurse Friedlander, can you assist me with this? I understand your concern, but I assure you that I'm much improved after a good night's rest."

Sharon looks dubious, but does assist him in taking the tubes out of his arm. As she does so, the Professor looks at Kurt and winces slightly.

"What has worldwide reaction been to the last few hours," he asks. Kurt can make the guess that the Professor just tried to update himself more directly and...failed to do so.

Kurt moves protectively to the professor's side. "Take it easy, herr Professor. There is time to heal. And to take stock."

Xavier nods, "You're right, of course. I will do none of us any good if I overstress and delay my healing."

"Japan, and many other Asian states have reacted well, and are grateful to Magneto - at least for the moment. The European states are more guarded, though positive over all. Positive but noncommittal, as to be expected. People don't forget Magneto's past easily."

Kurt sighs. "Here at home in the USA things are less rosy. Magneto for all his great strength was unable to reach all the way around the world. Many American cities suffered earthquakes. People want someone to blame and who better than a mutant terrorist? We can expect a backlash. We will have to be proactive in protecting young emergent mutants, who might otherwise face an even less welcoming coming out than before."

Xavier sighs as well, "Better than I had hoped for, then. Yes, North America will get harder for a while, but Ororo's gamble might well pay significant dividends worldwide if we can find a way to capitalize on it."

Kurt nods slowly, wondering if the dividends will be worth the price.

Xavier runs his hands over his head. "Please excuse me for a few moments Kurt, Miss Friedlander. I desperately need to freshen up..." he gives the nurse a significant look, "and then I'll be back for a full physical."

When Xavier is out of the room Sharon looks at Kurt, "He's indomitable, isn't he? But if he doesn't restrain himself he's risking permanent injury."

"I'll do my best to slow him down, Sharon, though I fear I'l present no more than a speed bump to his drive. If only Jean were here; he listened to her."

Kurt sighs and slumps a little, before forcing the stresses of recent days from his indigo face with a gallant smile. "We all could do with a little break from the stress. Say, a century or two?"

Page 4 (Ariel)

“I’m just saying that what Storm did was pretty gutsy,” Ilyana says, pressing her attack against Kitty in the gym, their custom made light sabers clanging against each other. The sabers were constructed to match the weight and cutting design of their respective weapons of choice: in Ilyana’s case it’s her Soulsword, a magical blade that represents the apex of her sorcerous training; for Kitty it’s her collapsible baton with a retractable edge. Kitty’s baton was built with the Soulsword in mind, since due to a quirk of its enchantment she’s the only other person in the universe who can wield it.

“Gutsy and stupid ain’t often opposites, kiddo,” Logan tells her from across the room, where he too is carrying a sword, though in his case it’s a bokken, a wooden practice katana. Unlike the girls he’s not in padded practice clothes: instead he’s in shorts, shirtless and shoeless, displaying his extreme hirsutosity along with his physique.

“She took a big gamble announcing her play like that. The buzz from my international friends is that it did wonders for Mutant PR in all the places where Magneto was able to help out, but based on the news its sure playing against us in North America where the cities still got hammered. Mariko says Japan loves mutants right now.”

"Maybe we should do something to take credit for stopping the Wraith homeworld," Kitty says. "I've been saying we should do more publicity ..." She tries an angled attack toward Ilyana's off side.

Ilyana knocks the attack off line, but ends up at a slightly awkward angle from it so isn't in a position to riposte. She takes two steps back instead and waits for a second.

"I wouldn't," Logan responds. "I like to keep things quiet and that feels like overplaying the hand. Ya' could talk to Corbeau about making what happened known. He's got contacts all through the UN and international space programs. That gets it done without it looking like bragging."

Ilyana moves back in with a broad swing made possible by the starting distance which Kitty parries, but it sends a shock up her arm. They end up Corps-à-corps - technically illegal in saber but Logan either doesn't know or doesn't care about official fighting rules.

"Weren't you going to talk to Beast and Angel about their PR teams?" she asks while the two girls are face to face.

"Things keep coming up," Kitty says, pressing hard against Ilyana's arm - and then suddenly going intangible. She spins around (and moves if necessary to be sure she isn't mixed with Ilyana) and goes tangible again to launch a slashing attack.

Kitty sees Ilyana lurch forward she steps through her, then spins to deliver her attack, only to see that Ilyana had turned the lurch into a forward roll to get clear of such an attack. The Russian sorceress is in a half crouch at the far end of the mat, barely inside legal space.

Logan, as judge, makes no comment on Kitty's maneuver.

"So that's how it's going to be today, huh?" Ilyana says

"Oh, were we doing this for fun?" Kitty says, grinning.

Ilyana stands up, executes a vaguely Prussian sword salute and says "on your head, then." She advances forward several steps and launches an attack.

Ilyana's attack is fierce, and while Kitty manages to parry several shots there's no opening for a riposte. Since Ilyana clearly can't keep up this level of attack for too long Kitty does the logical thing and gives a step or two of ground, only to find herself suddenly in mid-air, some twenty feet up, facing the corner of the room - Ilyana must have set up a stepping disk behind her and forced her back into it! Hours of training lets Kitty phase immediately so that she doesn't fall to the padded floor.

By the time Kitty's turned around Ilyana is leaning casually against some of the exercise equipment laughing while Logan is standing a short distance away with a wry smirk on his face. "Lookin' sharp, kiddo," he tells her.

"Hah!" Kitty says, bringing herself back toward the training area at a jogging pace. She's smiling, and adds, "I'll bet we could make a fight *really* confusing if we put our minds to it!"

"Likely so," Logan says. "No holds barred. Go get her."

Ilyana looks up in surprise at that, and starts to bring up her sword, though Kitty can tell that the girl wouldn't be ready if Kitty quickly pressed the attack.

Having reached the floor, Kitty jumps forward and tries to get in a solid (but not damaging!) hit before Ilyana can get in position.

Ilyana's reaction speed is faster - much faster - than Kitty anticipated and the sword comes up in time - despite the rushed nature of the defense the parry is as hard as Kitty has ever felt from Ilyana. The blonde girl adopts a two handed grip on her sword and delivers a downward slash followed by a step forward and thrust that Kitty barely avoids.

"You sure you want to do this, Kitty?" Ilyana asks her with a thin smile.

Page 5 (Phoenix)

Inside Rachel Summer's room it's still dark, and the X-Man with the most troubled past is engaging in a morning of sleeping in. Based on the state of her covers and the sweat on her brow it’s not restful. Her bright red hair -- now about two inches long, is soaked in sweat, and her struggles have pulled the covers off of her down to just above her waist, with her arm uncomfortably across her chest as she twists and turns.

The blackness that engulfed her in the Wraiths mind is there again, and as before it suddenly clears to reveal a small room with a small round table, two candles and two chairs. One of the chairs is occupied by a figure in a blue cloak.

“Hello, human,” It says, “Have a seat. I think you and I have rather a lot to discuss. You were in the mind of one of my pawn’s pawns, you’re here and you were… oh that’s right,” he waves his hand, and Phoenix can see it’s a mottled grey in color. “In any event, rather than keep fighting like this I thought it might be best if we came to an equally agreed upon understanding.”

Rachel looks at him with suspicious, red glowing eyes, and her aura is asymmetrically unsteady around her and reminiscent of the wildness of her hair in the previous scene. "What...did you have in mind," she says.

"It's very simple," the figure tells her, and Rachel suddenly realizes that she's sitting at the table. "You give me something that I want - a lack of your full attention for the next few minutes - and I give you something you want."

He holds up his hand and dangling from it by a thin grey chain is a small locket of indestructible material.

Franklin! "Where did you get that," Rachel asks, her wings going wispy and showing the room behind them.

She can tell that the figure under the hood has just smiled. "I have access to a thousand dimensions, across all of time. I advance my goals on a million boards simultaneously. Acquiring a version of this is a trifle."

He places it on the table and lets go of the chain, which slithers through his fingers with an almost inaudible hiss.

"I can give him back to you, just as he was."

"It's tempting," Rachel says. "I miss him. I want him here to tell me it's all right--it's all going to be all right. But he's already here; as much as the older Franklin would be...good, it would be really confusing. And also," Rachel flares up to full phoenix display and attacks, "I won't be used!"

The blast of telekinetic energy slashes off the figure, disturbing nothing in the room, and Phoenix finds herself sitting again. "Tut tut," the figure says. "Such a display. As I said this is just a discussion."

"Besides, I have a new offer. I can offer you Franklin, exactly as he was, either in a new body or manipulating the form of the current on in a way that no one would suspect given his...peculiarities, and I can offer you certainty. After all, your concentration has already wavered, child, the moment you recognized the amulet. I struck at your blessed mentor at that very instant of inattention. My contingency plans should the wraiths fail are already in place, nestled quietly in the corruptible soul of earth's most powerful mutant mind."

"You might as well accept my reward, child. You've already fulfilled your end of the bargain."

"No, never!" Professor! Rachel devotes her power to breaking out of this dream -- hoping against hope that there will be some way to reverse whatever this creature has done.

She remains fixedly in her chair.

"A rejection then? Noble to the end?" The figure on the other side of the table asks her? "Very well. I leave you with this - I may be lying. Your concentration, might have remained for our entire meeting. Your beloved Professor might be entirely safe. But I assure you, if you did falter, my manipulations are so subtle as to be invisible. I deny you my promised certainty. You will never know if you have failed here until it is too late. You will never fully be able to trust him again, and if you speak a warning of this no one will believe you."

"Now go." He waves a hand at her, and she is gone.

Page 6 (Colossus & Rogue)

Inside the tunnels we find the morlocks cleaning up from the damage caused by the earthquake. There's nothing in the Alley, but the Morlocks are cleaning out some of the secondary tunnels.

Colossus and Rogue have been put to work on that, and Rogue is clearly just a little under the weather, her nose a trifle red and running from accidentally inhaling hard vacuum just before Kurt's rescue.

There are a half dozen of the other, normal Morlocks with them, hauling away the smaller debris and otherwise keeping themselves busy. The path in front of them appears impenetrably blocked, but a cloud of yellowish vapor seeps through the cracks in it, solidifying on front of them into the form of a heavyset man in a heavy military style coat stained yellow from age and use*.

He's the Colonel, one of the as yet undefined mutants in the Morlock tunnels (we last saw him on page 4 of issue 185)

"The passage clears up after another 8 feet or so, and it's clear from there on in. This support was the only one to go," he tells them before sitting down, removing his hat and mopping his brow. He looks at Rogue, who is holding up part of the wall, "I tell you lass, I don't know how you can live upstairs like. Giant flaming men and armies of demons stomp across the city lighting everything on fire, then big alien invasion caused earthquakes tear down buildings and light even more fires. I'll stay down here where it's safe."'

Rogue smiles, slightly apined "Well if you'd asked me a week ago shugah, if I'd ever have too much sunshine, I'd have laughed like crazy but right now I don't miss it a bit. You guys have a pretty cool setup down here." turns in the direction Colossus went "How's that prop coming along Petey? No hurry but I'm gonna need a hand free to grab some tissues soon. My whole damn face feels like it's coming loose."

The Colonel pulls a handkerchief out of his coat and extends it towards Rogue's face, "I can give you a hand there lass...."

"That's sweet shugah, but unless you have some gloves on, I'll absorb your psyche and powers and you'll probably catch my darn cold."

"In a minute," says Colossus, giving it a final twist or two before deciding it's done.

The Colonel crosses himself as Rogue steps away from the wall. All are gratified that Peter's brace holds, meaning that the last hours of work isn't lost.

"Great! Eight more feet to go and the path to points north will be cleared up!" The Colonel shouts. There's a ragged cheer from the small crowd before someone says "It took is four hours to clear the _last_ eight feet...."

Rogue says "Well, perhaps it's time for a break before we tackle the next stretch. Don't want to sneezethe roof in ... Again."

Colossus rebraces the tunnel, looking up at the ceiling to make extra sure there won't be any further problems while everyone takes five,stretches and otherwise ceases working for a few minutes.

They haven't had very long to rest before Peter realizes that a couple members of his work crew have wandered off, apparently deciding in the mildly anarchic Morlock fashion that they'd done enough for now. A few other the others had moved off with speed and come back with a cooler full of water for the rest of the crew on the break, and in that repose is where Callisto finds them, dragging one of the missing Morlocks by the ear behind her.

"Hey, Colossus! You lost one!" she says as she pushes the errant Morlock back into the work area. "And the rest of you," she eyes the state of the tunnel and how far they've come, "Nice work, but break's over. We still have a lot of repair work to do and this ain't getting it done."

Callisto hefts a rock bigger than you'd think a woman of her size could lift (though nothing like the boulders that Rogue could move without blinking) and starts to lead by example, staying towards the front where she's close to Peter and Rogue.

After a few minutes she pauses to say, "Colonel, go up and pick up some food for the group. I'm thinking a couple of pies per work group ought to do."

Once the three of them are more or less alone at the front she asks Peter, "No sheep on the farm in Russia, huh?"

Peter shakes his head. "But, the chickens could be the same. And the hens. We don't usually get demons or alien invaders, though." He smiles. "Usually. It's almost as safe as here." Remembering things like, oh, his sister getting kidnapped [right?], his smile fades, and he adds, "Except when it really isn't."

"Nowhere is safe," Callisto responds as she hurls a small piece of rubble towards the pile to be removed.

Before the conversation can go any further Lettie - the girl with the bright red skin - coms down the corridor. She yells out "Hey, Colossus! The mansion just called: something's come up, they want you two to go back topside."

Peter can feel Callisto's eyes on him at this question.

"Are they still on the phone?" says Peter.

Lettie shakes her head, "It took me fifteen minutes to get from there to here. You're lucky the message got through at all."

"Thank you, Lettie," says Colossus. "That was very good of you."

He looks conflicted for a panel, and then comes to a decision.

"Rogue, go up to the surface and call the mansion. If it's on fire or there's an alien invasion or some other emergency, come back and get me if you think there's time. Otherwise, go on ahead, and I'll join you after we clear this passage."

Rogue also looks conflicted ... "Petey. Do you think Kurt would be cutting his lovey dovey getaway with Amanda short if he just wanted us to pick up some milk?"

"Milk? No," says Peter. "But, it could be something like this," he says, gesturing to the passage. "Helping people clean up after the damage the Dire Wraiths did. And that's important. But... it's also what I'm doing here. That's why I need you to find out what it is."

He grins, forcing a lightheartedness he doesn't really feel, under the circumstances. "And, if it turns out he needs extra milk for a surprise party, you can have my share of the cake!"

Rogue heads topside as fast as she can to find out the reason for the alert. Rache!? You on the lookout shugah?

Rogue is immediately pulled into a mental link.

I've been looking for you--Banshee's been kidnapped!

Rogue: Uh...Who now?

In the next panel we see Rogue flying back through the tunnels to Peter to bring him up to speed on what's going on.

"COLOSSUS! Time's a wasting big boy! Some dead guy's damage bound relative is gunning for any solo X-Men he can find and there ain't no way Kurt'll let you stay here on your ownsome to bring him down on these people with no damn backup." Swoops to a halt "Although he's already got one ex-X-man and if we don't jump through his stupid hoops seems we'll be down one Irish founder member."

Colossus is holding a Very Large Boulder (or other piece of rubble) as Rogue delivers this news. He puts it down, very carefully, somewhere out of the way, looks at the passageway (possibly a whole half a foot more cleared, if that, possibly less) and swears in Russian. The comics code being what it is, that comes through as "$*^)_%^*&@!"

A couple of Morlock kids listen, probably committing the new (to them) swear words to memory.

Callisto catches his glance and doesn't even have to voice her assent to his leaving - he can see it in her eyes. You don't let people take one of your own, and if they do you fight - that's not a complicated calculus.

"Grab Sunder on your way out, tell him to swing down here," she tells him.

Page 7 (Forge)

The scene is a meeting room in the ad hoc, pre-fab constructions that had always been General Locklin's central operations port against the Dire Wraiths in West Virginia. At the table are the General, Forge, Henry Gyrich, Shield Agent Jasper Sitwell, Sebastian Shaw, Frank Coward - a representative of Stane International - and several other Army officers of various ranks.

General Locklin is talking. "In conclusion, I want to thank all of you again for your hard work, your sacrifices and your technological acumen in bringing this war to a successful conclusion. Without access to Shaw Industries' fabrication plants, Stane International's repulsor technology, without SHIELD's orbital technologies, without Forge's work in enhancing Rom's neutralizer, and without the logistical and interpersonal skills of our fine officer corps and civilian industries working in close concert... well, I think we all know the outcome would have been very different."

He nods to Gyrich, who picks up the thread. "Over the next few months those of you who represent contractors working with the military," he shoots Forge a look, "can expect to see multiple reports from our forces about the life fire field tests of much of this new equipment. While the Dire Wraith menace was belatedly resolved there are constantly other forces, terrestrial and extra-terrestrial - against which the technologies developed for this war might be applied."

Forge stares over the table at him, "And what exactly are you insinuating, Mr. Gyrich?"

"In insinuate nothing. I am stating that these technologies might work well against menaces such as the Skrulls, the Deviants or threats of a human origin. I don't think anyone at this table discounts those threats."

Forge leans in, "You just did it again, Gyrich. Say the word. Say the damn word and get it out in the open. You want to use these against mutants." There's a slight murmur around the table.

Gyrich's eyes are steely, "If a mutant is threatening the security of the United States or the lives of its citizens, yes, I would recommend using these against mutants."

"Even if you hit the wrong target and cripple an innocent woman who is trying to save lives." Forge replies, and its clear to everyone around the room, no matter what they may or may not know if the specifics, that this is a statement, not a rhetorical.

Gyrich stands up and pounds the table, "Don't sell me a damn sob story about her! Whose decision was it to protect the Soviets and Chinese while unleashing billions of dollars of damage on our infrastructure? Who, in that move, did more comparative damage to the United States and its neighbors than any conflict since the Civil War? Don't try to sell Storm as some sort of innocent!"

Forge blinks at him then says "My God, you're utterly insane. Storm saved the planet from being torn apart. I thought you were just under stress while we were in orbit but you're really insane."

Gyrich points a finger at him, "What I'm not, Forge, is blind! I've seen the devastation across the United States while the Soviets sit untouched! I've read the reports on thousands of lives that were lost because you wouldn't hand over your Neutralizer technology months ago - never mind how that might of stopped the worldmerge - because you valued Mutants over Humans." He waves his arm in a broad gesture, "How many died while we were waiting for the Avengers to free Rom when you wouldn't fire the weapon? How many humans died because of your race-hatred, Forge?!"

"That's enough, Mr. Gyrich!" Locklin breaks in with a yell. "That's more than enough."

Shaw, lays a restraining hand on Gyrich while Sitwell motions for Forge to calm down. Forge brushes his hand off, "I think enough about covers it. Since I have no military contracts in this conflict I'll excuse myself from this table."

Forge turns to Locklin, "General, it has been an honor working with you." He gives the general a handshake then leaves the room, heading across the camp with an angry stride.

Inside the room things have calmed down, though everyone is looking at Gyrich - except Shaw, who is looking out the window at the departing inventor. Sitwell asks Gyrich “Do you really believe this was all part of a plot?"

"Don't be stupid, Sitwell. Of course letting the Wraiths attack wasn't a mutant plot. But it was an opening that Forge facilitated and you see how they were able to take advantage of it," Gyrich straightens his coat and cuffs before sitting down. "I'm willing to be proven wrong, of course. I'm a fair man. Let's see what the mutants do in the next few weeks while we're rebuilding. If they stay quiet, or pitch in, I'll send Forge an apology. If they interfere with our ally governments, or start attacking military bases in North America, well...I doubt he'd return the favor."

We have a panel of Forge looking over the destroyed town in the valley below them, and other with the sun in a different position indicating that some time had passed.

"Nothing changes. Nothing EVER changes." He mutters.

We see a word balloon from off panel say, "Don't be too sure about that, Forge. I have an offer to make you that will change things quite a bit."

Alas, we don't see whose word balloon that is.

Page 8-9 (Storm)

Forte is staring at Storm while Storm is watching the healing chamber that currently holds Magneto. Storm turns to her. “He’s steady, I think, and will improve quickly.”

“Great,” Forte replies, “So now when do you lead revolution? And what are you going to do?” In the space next to the girl there is a floating handgun in the process of being stripped and cleaned, obviously something she’s doing with her telekinetic hands.

Storm looks at her. “I’ve already arranged via Magneto’s communication system to have a meeting with the rebel leaders to offer to merge our forces with theirs. Before I do, however, I want to make sure we actually have things they don’t.”

“We have us,” Forte says, “and the guns in the armory. Lorelei and Equlibrius can destabilize whole units, while I…” the last component of the gun snaps back into place, “I have advantages too.”

Storm nods, “Yes, but they already have guns, and people to shoot them, and they may not realize how useful properly placed mutants can be. I want to be able to offer them something else. Some things they don’t have.”

“Like what?” the girl asks. She’s clearly familiar with every aspect of Magneto’s operation and knows there isn’t anything else here for the fighting that she hasn’t mentioned.

Storm motions for her to follow, then heads to the communication room, seating herself at the console, “The same thing Magneto wanted. Legitimacy.”

The screen flickers to light and after a moment a handsome African man appears on it. “Ororo. You changed your hair.”

“I did, T’challa. It seemed the thing to do,” she smiles, and he smiles back – though his is small, the smile of a man who does not often have time or cause to do so.

“I know I gave you this network code some time ago* but I didn’t expect to hear from you now. I assume this has something to do with your new alliance with Magneto… and his plans for Southern Sudan?”

[*After the events in Marvel Team-Up 100!]

Forte stiffens at this, clearly wondering how this man could already know about their plans, but Storm is obviously not bothered by T’challa’s information network or perhaps his ability to trace the call and bluff.

“In a way. The South Sudanese have legitimate grievances. This war with stretch on for decades without some unexpected external event, some X-Factor, changing the dynamic. Thousands will die in the conflict, millions will be impoverished. I intend to end that via several quick, decisive victories and the development of an equitable, well defended border.”

She clicks a button on the panel, and the word ‘transmit’ flashes several times. Forte looks stunned into inaction.

T’Challa pauses, his eyes scanning the information on the screen “For various reasons I can’t assist you in this. Introducing Wakandan troops would be…”

Storm interrupts him. “I am not asking for your troops, or your presence. I understand your restrictions. All I ask is that if I succeed, if we are able to quickly set up a state, that Wakanda recognize us.”

T’Challa’s face shows no emotion, “That is no small thing, Ororo.”

“I know. But it could end a war that has gone on for 10 years and will stretch 20 more, and it will give my people a place to call home.”

T’Challa nods. “We all need that. If you do what you plan, and if there are no massacres or purges in the process, Wakanda will recognize you.”

“Thank you T’calla, my gawky prince.”

T’challa smiles again, “Good bye, wind-rider. Come and visit sometime.” The screen goes blank.

Storm spins her chair to face Forte. “I had a similar discussion with the head of one of Japan’s most powerful clans last night – she is seeing if they can arrange recognition from Japan as well, under similar conditions. Legitimacy, Forte. It’s the best bargaining chip we have. Now for the second best – support.”

She turns back to the screen and opens another call. “Muir Island Research Center, Jamie Madrox speaking” says the man who answers the phone. He’s Caucasian, plain in appearance and wearing a distinctive green and gold skintight hood that covers all of his head except his face. “Oh, hi Ororo. You were busy yesterday….”

“Jamie, hello. Just who I was looking for,” Ororo smiles. “Yes, I did cause a bit of a stir, didn’t I?”

“You might say that. There are actually MPs on the floor of parliament trying to put Magneto – Magneto! – up for knighthood if the Quartermass Group can confirm your claim.” Jamie shakes his head. “Strange days. So what can I do for you?”

“Moira made you get an EMT* license, correct?”

[ED: Emergency Medical Technician]

“Yeah, I just got my EMT-P certification, so I’m a full paramedic. Why?”

“I need your help. I’m in South Sudan, where I and some other mutants are about to decisively end the ongoing civil war…”

Jamie shakes his head, interrupting her. “I’m not a soldier, Ororo. I’m just a research assistant.”

Storm nods, “You’re much more than that, Jamie. But I don’t need soldiers. I have a large amount of medical supplies and emergency equipment, a civilian population in what is now a civil war that is going to get very active in the next few weeks, and no means to get the former properly distributed and used by the latter. I could use a small army of paramedics….”

Jamie looks uncertain. “I don’t know, Ororo. I have a lot of responsibilities here…”

Another face leans in over Jamie’s shoulder – a red haired girl in her late teens to early twenties “So leave one of you here, ya’ big spaleen. He can always make more. Ororo, this is Siryn. I’m in.”

[ the editor has no skill with Irish slang. Will the actual Irish people please provide appropriate terms? For those of you who don’t recognize her, that’s Theresa Cassidy, Banshee’s daughter, and she shares his power set.]

Jamie still looks torn, but nods. “OK, I show up. But I’m not fighting anyone, Ororo.”

“Understood. Thank you Jamie, Theresa. Here are our coordinates. I’ll see you soon.”

“So what can the coward do?” Forte asks. “And the girl?”

Storm looks at her sternly. “He’s invulnerable to all physical harm and any attempt to hurt him just makes more of him. Jamie Madrox will be able to disseminate all of the supplies, provide emergency medical care in every town and village, prevent countless deaths and do more to cement the good will of the local population to mutants than any amount of violence ever could.

“And the girl? The girl can scream. And accepting her invitation feels like a betrayal of a very old friend. I just hope her father can forgive me.”

Page 10-12 (Ultimately everyone)

Nightcrawler isn’t having a great morning. So far he’s had to calm Nurse Friedlander’s uncertainty about issues where he is just as uncertain, he’s missed the fencing training session with the girls that Logan described as “a heck of a lot of fun”, he got a call from Amanda saying that she’s been called in on an emergency flight from London to Latveria to Ankara to Halwan to Lisbon and will be out of the country for their planned ‘my boyfriend just saved the world and all I got was this lousy tee-shirt’ weekend and he somehow managed to spill orange juice into his scrambled eggs.

It’s about to get worse.

“Kurt, this just came in the mail,” Tom Corsi tells him, handing the X-Men leader a padded envelope addressed to the school with “urgent – open immediately” and “Electromagnetic Media” marked on it but with an absence of a return address. Based on the weight and size of the object inside Kurt figures it’s a videotape.

Kurt takes the envelope with a nod. Cut then to the rec room as he settles onto the plush leather couch in front of the large TV.

The VCR hums and images flicker to life around the opening static before the handheld camera shot come clear: Thunderbird – James Proudstar, spitting image of his years dead older brother and now a member of the Hellfire Club’s equivalent to the New Mutants – is on the screen.

“X-Men, I’ve taken Banshee prisoner. On Wednesday at noon I plan to kill him. I’ve hidden him somewhere inside Cheyenne Mountain. You want him, come get him. I’ll be waiting.”

That is the whole of the message. The background matches that of the Colorado landscape Kurt remembers from that fatal mission. The envelope is postmarked overnight mail from Colorado Springs. Holding the crumpled paper in his hands his memory runs away from him….

'''*

It is a glorious, sunny day in Graymalkin Lane. A running figure makes good time along a running path through the well-kept woods.

"C'mon, German, run why don't you?"

Thunderbird crests over a rise on the spacious grounds of the Xavier Academy, running with a loose steady rhythm. We see him descend the hill for two more panels before a much less relaxed Nightcrawler makes his appearance over the rise.

"Have pity, Thunderbird! I'm an acrobat, not a marathon runner!"

Kurt stops at the hilltop, panting, and stands on one leg massaging the other. "Slow down! Where has he got to now?" He looks about for Thunderbird, who has outpaced the footsore German easily.

"Ach, with feet like these I'm no runner. Whose stupid idea was it to go out for a 'gentle run' anyway? 'Gentle' my a...aah!"

Kurt is surprised by the sudden appearance of Thunderbird, who leaps from ambush with a wide grin and wild eyes. Kurt tries to teleport but doesn't react in time before the Apache mutant twists his arms into a painful full nelson hold. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Nightcrawler disappears in a cloud of sulfurous explosion of smoke to reappear several metres away.

"By all that's holy, Proudstar, you scared the life out of me!" Kurt protests as he works the abused muscles in his shoulders.

Thunderbird laughs. "A warrior is always on guard, always ready for battle."

He strolls away without a backwards glance. "Not that I've seen many warriors round here."

Kurt looks at the retreating mutant's back. "Mein Gott, that man has a chip on his shoulder even Colossus would have trouble lifting."

Dusting himself off, he heads in the opposite direction towards the house where he encounters Cyclops.

"Ah, Scott, I've been meaning to ask. Any chance of some extra training time in the Danger Room? It wouldn't hurt to practice, nein?"

'*

Kurt says an all-too-translatable word that doesn't make it past the CCA. He casts out a thought. Phoenix! Are you nearby? Gather the troops, we've got a situation.

Looking heavenward, he mutters to himself. "Just for once, Lord, just once, would it be too much to ask for a holiday from all this?"

There's a pause before Phoenix responds, as if she's less ready to link up than usual, before, All right, I've sent the word on. What is this about?

There's a pause before Phoenix responds, as if she's less ready to link up than usual, before, All right, I've sent the word on, except to Colossus and Rogue, of course. What is this about?

Nightcrawler tells her as he fishes through the address book for the phone number Colossus got for the Alley, hoping that the earthquake didn't sever the lines.

Cut to briefing room with the frozen image of James Proudstar on the wall monitor. The various members of the X-Men are seated or standing around the room as Nightcrawler finishes.

[BR: Kris, as a note, Kitty has had direct experience with James Proudstar before during her captivity at the Massachusetts Academy. In her experience he's unduly proud bordering on arrogant and clearly has something to prove but is also proud of his team and his place in it. He might well be pulling this solo, but it's equally likely that he's pulled in some help from the Hellions - she doesn't think he'd accept help from Empath or Roulette without the rest of the team being there, but Jetstream, Catseye and Roulette might well have volunteered their services; if all of those went along Empath and Roulette would likely follow.]

"Proudstar blames us for his brother's death, obviously. I fear that the younger brother is not that different in temperament to his older sibling. We have to act to recover Banshee and, please God, stop James Proudstar from following his brother into a pointless sacrifice.

"Cheyenne Mountain is no cakewalk. I want stealth gear and a full study of what schematics we have. I don't doubt they've stepped up the security since our last visit, and with the current sentiment running high against mutants in the US, I suspect that trigger fingers may be more itchy than usual.

"Kid's making a clever play here," Logan says. "We lose either way. Either we let Banshee croak, which ain't gonna happen, or we get into a fight with the Army at a time when our reputation in the States is already at a low point."

Logan looks at Kurt, "This is going to have to be the sneakiest of sneaks for us to avoid a whole pile of trouble."

"Professor Xavier can provide you with a psychic impression of Banshee, Phoenix, but I suspect that Proudstar will have thought of that, and is keeping Sean unconscious or psychically dampened."

Xavier shakes his head. "That won't be necessary. I'm coming along." Xavier holds up a hand to forestall any argument. "I will, of course, stay with the Blackbird, but John Proudstar's death, and Sean Cassidy's safety, are ultimately my responsibility."

Kurt can't keep the look of concern from his face. "I would argue, Professor, but I know what a waste of time that would prove. Remember only that you are still recuperating from our clash with the Dire Wraiths and please don't leave me head of the school as well as the field team leader, nein?"

"We have to work under the assumption that James Proudstar wants us dead starting with Banshee, as payment for his brother. We're not going to let that happen. Any questions?"

Page 13 (Banshee)

Sean comes to, and he feels bruised all over. “Och laddie, and what have you gotten yourself into this time?” he thinks as he slowly unkinks his muscles as much as the restraints allow. We see him in a shadowy space, lying on a floor, bound hands behind him, arms bound to chest, feet bound together, knees bound together and some sort of high tech restraint around his mouth that runs up to the back of his head, with a band around his forehead. And another covering his eyes.

“Nothing broken, blessed be, but these feel more like steel cables than they do ropes. No way to untie them, and slipping them will take time. Johnny could tie these no problem… his ghost knows his stuff. He’s taken no chances on me powers either, with a sonic gag in addition to the blindfold and what’s probably a psionic baffler to keep Xavier from finding me.”

“Johnny….”

Banshee’s mind flashes back to his first days with the X-Men. He’s taking a flight well above the mansion and its ground and at twilight, feeling the transition of day to night animals in the air around him with his sonar. Below him he feels/hears something moving down through the air, off the highest cliffs towards Breakstone Lake’s smooth surface.”

“No!” Banshee yells, putting on speed and catching the falling figure before it hits the water, carrying it back up to the top of the cliff before the struggling of the figure causes them both to land in a tumble.

“Hands off, Irish!” Thunderbird says, shoving Banshee off of him.

Sean pulls himself back up. “What in the good Lord’s name to ye think ye are doin’, lad! A fall from that height and the water would have all the give o’ wet cement! Ye’d have been spalttered!”

“Don’t lecture me, Banshee. Wolverine was doing this jump this morning. Nothing the runt can do that I can’t match.”

“Wolverne’s bones don’t break, ya fool! Yours do!”

Proudstar angrily waves the argument aside and starts walking away – back to the mansion, thankfully, and not to try the cliff again. Banshee moves to keep up with him.

“Look, Johnny, I get it. You want to make sure everyone thinks you’re tough. Strong. A fighter. Someone who won’t back down for anything. I come from a country full of people who make a livin’ out of that, carrying century old grudges and fightin’ to show they’re tough men. I’ve seen way too many of them make a dyin’ out of it too. Yer too good a man to fall for that trap.

“I’ve known Cyclops a darn site longer than any of the rest of you. If he has you on this team it’s not because he wants a fighter. It’s because he knows you can be a warrior. A hero.”

John has stopped moving, so Sean gets in front of him and keeps talking “Dyin’ here, splattered in the lake because Wolverine made you look the fool in the danger room in front of Cyclops today ain’t a warrior’s death. You just double down and make Wolverine look the fool tomorrow, and then in the field the two of you make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”

John slaps Sean on the shoulder, “I’m not sure even I’m able to make Wolverine not do something stupid, Banshee. But you’re right on one thing. If I’m going to die it will be a warrior’s death, one that will make my parents and my brother proud.”

Back to the present. “Dammit all, Johnny, but you sure proved that right quick.” Banshee thinks. “But whoever’s playing your ghost, be it Mastermind muckin’ with me or Johnny’s little brother, they didn’t think o’ everything. Me larynx is busted up right enough, but my ears are still keener than most.”

“The rooms big and I’m in here alone. It’s either irregularly shaped or it’s got a lot of equipment in it. It’s vibrating like there’s machinery inside it. That’s a start, and something to tell the Prof if and when he does find me.”

Page 14-19 (X-Men)

The first image is of the Blackbird in the dawn light, which Nightcrawler had brought down in an isolated woodland clearing not far from Cheyenne Mountain, confident that the Shiar shielding technology prevented them from being seen by the sensors at NORAD while the darkness should have protected them from a visual spotting. Rouge can been seen pulling a camouflage netting over the plane to prevent it from being spotted by more conventional means.

We cut to inside the ship, where Ariel has called up a map of the facility – freshly hacked from the sites computers with Cypher’s help – on the ships screens. We can see the small foam-lined container that holds her comm units on the table next to her with the seven of the eight units out of it. Several spots on the screen are flashing amber, indicating where the site is on higher than normal security (with a greater than normal soldier compliment) as it is on high alert in the post-Dire Wraith war repairs.

“I can confirm that Sean is here, but I am unable to pinpoint,” Xavier tells them. Even this use of his powers has brought a sheen of sweat to his face. “The facility itself is using advanced telepathic shielding technology – I’ve encountered the like in both the Stryker campaign and with Mystique, and it seems that they’ve adopted it here. I expect I will be able to find him, but it will take time.

"Can we do something to take it down?" asks Peter.

"Certainly, if Ariel can locate the generator in the blueprints and then reach them it should take little effort to shut them down."

"Yeah ..." Ariel says, peering at the maps on the screen. "And alarms would go off like crazy ... How about finding Thunderbird? What if he's out there with some binoculars, laughing to himself? If we can neutralize him, maybe finding Sean would be a little more relaxed."

"That's my job, kiddo," Wolverine tells her, already heading out the door. "If he's out there I'll find him and bring him to heel, and if he ain't I'll find where he went into the mountain and we can follow him,."

He taps the comm unit, "and if you find sign that he's in there before I do just give a whistle."

"Try not to hurt him, Wolverine," Xavier tells him. "He's just a child, and I did give Ms. Frost my word about leaving her students her students out of our conflict."

"He made a man's decision to insert himself into that fight, Charlie, but I won't hurt him 'less I need to." Wolverine looks at Nightcrawler, "Any other orders, boss?"

"You know the mission. We're here to retrieve Banshee, and I hope not to expose the X-Men to further dilemmas with the US Military or undermine our already shaky public image. Dead soldiers won't help that, so we're all to go about this quietly, quickly and without bloodshed, God willing."

"You got it."

He nods to Wolverine to acknowledge his response and watches the Canadian disappear into the darkness.

Cut to a panel of two figures watching the Blackbird from some distance away - one large one holding up a pair of binoculars, the slender one keeping an eye on them unaided.

"Wolverine's isolated himself. Go." the big one says.

There's a blur of motion and Wolverine is gone. It takes a second for Kurt to realize that his friend didn't just disappear into the wilderness but was instead grabbed by someone moving entirely too fast. By the time that the wind burst following the attackers passage makes it clear what happened the pair - Wolverine and his attacker - are already half a mile away, cresting the mountains.

"Cripes!" Wolverine yells, having been snagged in a steel mesh net moving at jet speeds. The sudden acceleration into the net might have killed anyone else, never mind the wind shear and friction of moving at this speed, but even with his adamantium skeleton and enhanced physical abilities Wolverine is seriously battered. He looks up and sees the slender Arabic mutant pulling him along via a harness attached to his costume.

Patented Wolverine thought box, "Got flamin' careless, I did. Johnny loved the ambush to even the odds. Should have seen it coming from his kid brother. First order of business - get clear of this net,then see if I can get the boy to give me a ride back."

Wolverine reaches up and slashes through the net towards the top to grab the cable holding it to the harness. He then slashes a hole open in the net and swings himself free, getting ready to climb up the cable towards his assailant.

Jetstream obviously felt the motion as he looks back and down at his no longer quite so captive. "Not today, mon amis," he says and undoes the lock on the harness, sending the whole net flying down… and Wolverine into freefall.

Another text box as we see Wolverine angle his body to catch the wind and aim for the patch of blue below him. "The kids planned that. He slowed down, and my angle of descent will take me right into that lake, Whatever Thunderbird Jr. is doin' he ain't trying to kill me. Much."

SPLASH!

One X-Man down. Five to go.

Meanwhile, back at the Blackbird.

"Verdammt!" Kurt thinks furiously of his options. "Ok, we're clearly observed. Ariel and I can get the team out of the aircraft by stealth I think, but I think we're likely to be walking home. Worse still I'm unhappy leaving the professor here alone. Rachel, can you contact Wolverine? Is he conscious? Kitty, can you get the group out of the Blackbird and into the trees unobserved? I can fly the Blackbird and the Professor out to a safe distance and return to this spot. Or rather to somewhere nearby; I suspect the opposition will stake out this site for my return. We have to assume they know our powers and capabilities well.

"Professor, how are you holding up? Can you sense any minds in the woods? Even animal ones? Even if our opponents are mind-shielded the creatures they're disturbing as they move through the forest are not, and you may pick up a sense of their location or numbers."

Rachel, whose training had her link with the X-Men from the moment they left the hangar, can hear Wolverine's patented thought boxes, and feels him hit the lake.

Xavier shakes his head, "Animal minds are too simplistic for me to track, but that won't be necessary. I have pierced the static and located Banshee's thoughts - he's right here."

Xavier points to a spot on the blueprints, deep inside Cheyenne Mountain's inner workings. "The area must have been closed down for repairs for him not to have been located, but there are no other thoughts in his immediate vicinity aside from James Proudstar's. Banshee is wearing some sort of psionic baffler that prevents me from reading his mind through the static, but," he grimaces again, "I can make out James', for the moment at least. They are entirely focused on being with Banshee and waiting for our arrival."

Xavier grimaces again, "I've lost James in the static, but I still have Banshee." He turns to Kurt, "If you are adamant in moving the Blackbird I am cleared to pilot her. I can move to what you deem is a safer location, keep a lock on Banshee and communicate with you through Kitty's technology to keep from overtaxing myself. That way Phoenix can keep her focus in the field."

"Wait," says Peter. "Is this a trap? I mean -- I know the whole thing is a trap, but is there some reason you are now able to touch one mind and then another?"

Xavier looks a little concerned and says "I can still feel Sean because I am much more familiar with his mind, because I have made finding him the focus of my attention, and because the psionic baffler, while it stops me from reading his thoughts, makes Sean's mind stand out in the background noise. James, for all that he is similar to his brother in the strength of his will, is otherwise unknown to me." He slumps down in the pilot's seat. "As Kurt has repeatedly pointed out I have perhaps overstressed myself recently. That, combined with the mental jamming technology at the facility, could easily account for how my ability to locate him is sporadic."

"But how much did he overstress himself," Phoenix think, "did...something happen to him? But he's still so strong!"

"Very well," says Nightcrawler. "Professor, you move the Blackbird to a safe distance and remain in contact with Banshee. Alert us via radio if his situation changes. Ariel, you take Colossus under ground as far from the landing spot as possible before surfacing and proceed to the woods here."

He indicates a location on the map displayed on the Shi'ar holographic display.

"I'll port Rogue and Rachel to the same rendezvous point and we regroup before attempting to penetrate the base perimeter."

In the water Wolverine is fighting to get to the surface. As he does so he remembers the past…

Inside the danger room – the old danger room, before all the fancy Shi’ar enhancements, we see Thunderbird and Wolverine standing at one end of the room, the exit door on the other side. Cyclops is in the control room, watching them.

“The goal, as always, is to get to the other side,” Cyclops says, and as he speaks a maze starts rising from the floor, the farthest wall first, slowly growing towards them, giving them a chance to look at the layout with its electronic doors, occasional transparent walls and other obstacles as it grows, albeit from a less than useful angle.

Wolverine shoves past the Apache in his race to the just completed entrance. “Loser buys the beer,” he calls behind him. As soon as he hits the maze the lights go out.

Wolverine thinks, “Looks like old One-eye wants to test our senses. Not a problem – there’s a slight wind blowing downstream through the maze that that I picked up when it was growin’. That’ll point me the right way.” He spins to his left and keeps moving with speed.

We have a few shots of he and Thunderbird avoiding various threats in the maze – pits, lasers that give off a high pitched whine before they fire, and so on – before we see Wolverine crouched at a crossroads. “Wind’s coming from two directions. I know it ain’t the way I came…how did the room look…”

That’s when a pair of hands grab him by the head and yank him up and spin him around

“Johnny snuck up behind me, stayed downwind. Damn this kid is good!” Wolverine thinks as he’s spun through the air

“I don’t drink little man, but I will take your money! Hokahey!” and with that Thunderbird lets him go. Wolverine bounces once and slides, slowing his passage with his claws in the floor.

“And I don’t lose, Kid…” Wolverine tells him, just before he realizes where he’s precariously standing “Cripes!” he manages to say before the trapdoor opens and drops him down into a black pit before closing. The only light comes from the holes he’s already made in the trapdoor’s mechanism through the Danger Room floor.

“One eye has got to be loving this – his two least favorite people pounding on each other.” Wolverine slices some holds in the walls and climbs up, slashing open the trapdoor. By the time he’s free Thunderbird is long gone. “That don’t mean I’m going to let Thunderbird win. But I think Cyke is playing us.”

He heads further down the passage where Thunderbird threw him, “Thunderbird came through here, but he couldn’t get through this,” Wolverine lays his hands on the high tech door, barely visible by the light of its control pad. “But I can. Cyclops is probably figuring I’ll just cut it open so it’s probably electrified or rigged to blow. ‘Course, I don’t need to do that.”

Logan crouches again, slices open the control panel and quickly hotwires the door in the dim light, “There’s a trick they don’t teach ya’ on the reservation, Johnny,” he thinks as he steps through the door and closes it behind him. “This was pretty close to the end of the maze, and Thunderbird’s got no way through.”

Wolverine sprints though the remaining passages, turns through the last passage and sees the Danger Room exit door in the distance. As he’s running something warns him and he dives to the side just as Thunderbird lands in the space that he just occupied. The Apache doesn’t break stride – and probably wouldn’t have even if he’d landed square on Wolverine’s back. Wolverine, on the other hand, has to regain his feet, and even with that there’s no way he can match Thunderbird stride for stride in a flat run. In the end it’s not even close.

The lights turn on as Wolverine closes the distance, fishing a crumpled bill out of his costume to hand the larger man, he asks. “How the heck did you get through the door?”

“Couldn’t. Once I realized there was no other way through I climbed the walls and ran across the top of the maze,” Thunderbird says with a grin as he snatches the bill out of Wolverine’s hand.

From inside the control booth Cyclops calls down “Did ever occur to you two to work together?”

The last panel of the page is Wolverine’s hand coming out of the water, his arm wrapping around a branch that’s dangling over the edge of the lake.

I’m up, Rache. Thanks for the assist, now get outta my head and focus on finding Irish. he thinks

Our opening panel is the rendezvous clearing, where Ariel and Colossus are coming out of the ground and Nightcrawler materializing with Phoenix. Rogue was there from Kurt's first 'port, and is keeping an eye on the Blackbird as it flies away.

Everyone can hear Xavier through the com link, "I'm clear, and will move to a secure area. Banshee's position has not changed."

Looming behind them is the bulk of Cheyenne Mountain, NORAD, one of the most secure facilities in the world. The dot on Kitty's scanner showing Sean's location indicates exactly how far they have to go to get in.

Kurt addresses the assembled group. "Our first priority is rescuing Banshee. I'd prefer if we could do it stealthily and painlessly, but I'm not a miracle worker. I propose we get inside as quickly as possible, secure Banshee and get out. The longer we hang around the more time Thunderbird and his team have to make things tricky for us, and the more time the US Army has to get in the way."

"Rogue, please make it to Wolverine and retrieve him at top speed. Keep your senses peeled for ambush. Phoenix, sweep the are as we progress. I want to know who's out there and where they are. Colossus, you're up front. Ariel, you and I take sweeper positions and keep alert. We're making for the defensive site. Rogue, rendezvous with us there. If there is any sign of an ambush, abort and return to the rendezvous point. Comms by encrypted headset or via Rachel only. Ok? Let's move it.”

Phoenix's costume is back to full bondage gladiator mode, after various adjustments when Cyclops was around, an episode in a space suit, etc. (Her force field is up, but below big glow levels.) Let's go, then; I've got a clear trail at the moment, although I expect interference, given how quickly they caught Logan

The quartet of heroes race through the woods in their own way, with Colossus indomitable stride setting their pace. The big man is more agile than he looks and, guided by Phoenix’s scan of the area (strained by the intereference of the psi jammer) to prevent running into any guards. They reach their entry point in short order – one of the faux mountain faces that will pivot out of the way to reveal short range defensive weaponry if the mountain is attacked.

We phase or teleport through here and we have a pretty clear path to Banshee’s location Kitty informs them as she traces their security free path through the mountain. It is one only this team of X-Men could perform, given that they have to pass through two thick solid walls to get there and telekinetically reroute two sensor banks. It should be impossible. For them, it’s just time consuming.

'

Meanwhile, overhead, Rogue has taken to the skies at top speed, hoping to return with their missing teammate. Her trip there should take no longer than two minutes, her return trip a little longer to accommodate Wolverine’s need to breath.

Damnit Logan! I bet that ole mutant healing factor doesn't make suffocating any more fun.

Inside the mountain we see someone at a computer console calling over his superior officer. “Sir, I’m getting a strange reading on the local sensors.” He points to a map of something moving like a low flying missile over the mountain.

“I’m cross referencing the energy signature.” He swallows once, hard, when he reads the display, “According to the threat assessment files it’s a unique energy signature given off by Rogue, a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. She broke into the SHIELD heli-carrier a couple months back and killed some agents.”

The console jockey looks at his boss, “Protocol is to turn on the mountain defenses and set off the alarms, sir. Can I…?”

The superior officer shakes his head. “Not yet, Lieutenant. Rogue was in the posse that helped free Rom. I saw file footage of her taking a shot for Captain America. I don’t know if she’s on the side of the angels but I’m not escalating unless I see signs she’s a threat. If she’s just flying by, I’ll file something on it but if she doesn’t start something neither do we.”

Outside, and blissfully unaware of this, Rogue is keeping her senses sharp. That’s what lets her spot to shadow descending on her position at about twice her speed. Jetstream, on the attack.

Rogue’s response to Jetstream attack is a loud "Ah #@%$!" She attempts to take evasive action at the last second, with her top priority getting to Wolverine

She times it perfectly to be able to dodge the teenager's charge based on his shadow only to discover that he was aiming to fly past her then loop down behind her. The cable he tosses as he goes by wraps around her as if magnetized, but it's not something that would hold her, and there's no way someone his strength could pull her anywhere....

Then Jetstream tosses the other half of the cable, entangling it among the two foot thick oaks that cover this part of the mountain. Rogue, continuing to move towards Wolverine and having had no chance to slow down, gets painfully yanked when the cable goes taut, pulling her towards the ground. She hits the side of the mountain like a small bomb even as the trees behind her explode into flinders from the force of the cable being pulled through them. The impact doesn't really _hurt_ her, just shake her up a bit. By the time she stands up and snaps the cable Jetstream is nowhere to be seen.

Not wanting to abandon her mission she takes to the sky, and towards Wolverine.

'

With Colossus, Phoenix and Nightcrawler in tow, Ariel speeds through the complex toward Banshee's location. We see them flit through the framework supporting the ceiling of a large hangar; crossing a dimly-lit corridor behind the backs of two patrolling soldiers; and Ariel reaching out of a wall to disable a camera that they just can't get around.

Okay, Ariel says in close-up, while she peers at her faintly-glowing scanner in a dark room, we're getting close now.

The scanner maps shows them the space that is still under repair. "I still detect Banshee in that space," Xavier tells them through the com unit. "and I detected Thunderbird waiting next to him just a few minutes ago.

Phoenix has been scanning their immediate vicinity to make sure they aren't surprised and even with the jamming static she can feel two minds in the space in question, but the background noise from the jammer is horrific. There does seem to be some increased tension and nervousness in the thoughts of the humans at the edge of her perception, but she in the need to keep moving she hasn't had a chance to stop and push through the static to see what the problem is.

"It's a trap, I'd bet" Phoenix says, talking the com unit despite proximity, "The jammer's cramping my style, but I'm picking up nervousness."

"Regardless," Nighcrawler responds, "we have to get in there and get Banshee out. Thunderbird is there with him, expecting a fight. I don't intend to indulge his revenge fantasies. Kitty, from the schematics and what the telepaths can provide can you get in under the space where Banshee is being held and wait for my signal. If Thunderbird has Banshee wired with explosives or some such, you're our best bet to get him out safely. Phase Sean and get him out to there. Phoenix, you're with Ariel, shield your minds and get the two of you as close to Sean as you can before I give the signal.

"Colossus, you're with me. We're the distraction. Thunderbird, for all his Apache ways, will want to talk. To boast, at least. We're going to let him."

"Sounds like my kind of game," Phoenix responds, "Actually, that gives me an idea."

'

Inside: "She's just turned and rammed the side of the mountain with no provocation, and just took off again. Estimate three more such hits before she's inside sir."

"Dammit. Activate the security grid."

Outside:

Rogue has barely made it a hundred yards before the ground in front of her opens up and a concealed chain gun opens fire. Like the crash it's not enough to hurt her, but the impacts do stop her momentum as the bullets chew apart her costume.

Behind her she hears the Familiar-to-Carol high pitched whine of incoming missiles.

Rogue, having wasted her ration of wingdings swearing on Jetstream will have to settle for a slack jawed "No!"

'

Taking a very careful look at the schematics Nightcrawler takes Colossus hand and teleports into what should be an open spot in the room in position to engage Thunderbird if need be. They appear, and neither the kidnapper or kidnapped are immediately visible - there's equipment on the floor, including a big crate that would be large enough to hold a bound man.

Ariel, meanwhile, flies up overhead in an arc and dives down through the ceiling in a path to grab Banshee and yank him down into the storage room, separated from the fight by ten feet of solid rock and confirmed by Phoenix to be empty. Her form is a blur, and operating under Phoenix's direction she passes directly through the crate, snags the canvas wrapped bundle out from the metal cables holding it in place and is gone almost before Nightcrawler and Colossus have a chance to register her presence.

Phoenix is stunned by the fact that not only is Banshee dropping through the floor with Ariel, but that Thunderbird, who should be just a few feet away, is doing so as well!

Through the com link they hear Wolverine say, "Looks like my ride is getting pinned down; I'm finding alternate transport. I got a question - how did a kid from the Apache reservation sneak himself and an unconscious body into NORAD? The Hellions ain't got a teleporter...."

'

"Nightcrawler! Running into all sorts of heck here. Jetstream first and now the Mountain Defences are gunning for me. Just thought I'd sSH-yee!-are. Yikes!"

Rogue takes off and the first two missiles streak past her. Both explode with an impressive amount of ordinance where she was standing just seconds earlier, but she doesn't have time to consider that with two more missiles closing in. They're faster than her, but she's more maneuverable and is able to dodge around them on their first pass and start a concentrated drive to Wolverine's position.

As they close back in she gets the idea to keep them in their trail to use against any other mountain-based defenses (or if Jetstream comes back). Glancing back over her shoulder repeatedly as she moves she times her quick break, dip and rise to come up under the first missile keeping inside the range of the faster rocket without getting hi, and she gets a look at the identifying markings on the tail.

Inside her head she feels Carol recognize that. Proximity Sensors!

BOOM!

And Rogue plummets to the ground, tearing a furrow into the earth where she hits.

Two X-Men down. Four to go.

'

Already inside the lower storeroom Ariel has dropped Banshee's body on the ground, only to see the wrapping fall away and find out that it's not a body at all - it's a collection of straw and wrapping materials around some machine parts and electronics gear - exactly what should be in that sort of crate. One of the pieces of electronics is beeping and has a flashing light. It also has a small mesh screen that suddenly spurts a cloud of gas into the room.

Feeling the nerve toxin hit her system, Ariel drops like a stone, hitting the floor with an ungainly THUD.

Three X-Men down, Three to go.

'

Phoenix, sick to death of the psi-jammer, modifies the warding process that the professor taught her to assist the New Mutants and expands her mind to create a sphere of 'normal' thought around her, then pushes herself to scan inside that space. The thoughts of Banshee and Thunderbird are echoed, and artificial, almost metallic, as if someone were broadcasting thoughts from a mechanical device, and likely shielding them at their point of origin. Wherever they really are, they aren't inside her sphere of normal thought. They might not even be in the facility at all!

That's when the intruder alerts go off.

"We've been decoyed," Phoenix says, "Wherever Banshee is, it's not right here, and Ariel's been gassed! I don't know how they're doing this; it’s some kind of technological telepathic projection; I doubt that Ms. Frost is involved in something like this."

Nightcrawler, looking deeply frustrated and concerned, answers. "Understood. Colossus, get through the floor and retrieve Ariel. You should be immune to any remnant gas in the area. Phoenix, we need to take out the psychic jammer. We're working blind currently and I'm not putting up with it any longer. Can you get a fix on the location of the jammer?"

"They may not have a telepath," says Colossus. "But, they do have someone who can... We had better expect Murphy's Law to be working against us all the time. And they have a precognitive." He looks to Nightcrawler just in case Nightcrawler wants to change his instructions, but if not (and he doesn't really expect it), he'll go through the floor. He'll just expect everything that can possibly go wrong when he does this to do so.

Colossus starts digging through the ground – where he is and not over Kitty’s last position to avoid debris hitting her if she’s still unconscious. Despite his fears the tunnel does not collapse underneath him, nor does the rubble he’s tossing out of the hole strike Nightcrawler before his comrade teleports away to get Phoenix.

It takes Colossus just a few moments to rip through the ten feet of concrete and granite to reach Ariel’s last known position. He is agile enough to land on his feet as the last inches of rock give way. Ariel is lying prone a few yards away next to a collection of electronic equipment scattered around a roughly human sized collection of packing material lying on a sheet of canvas. The walls of the room fold four mounted transparent tubes holding each holding a greenish humanoid form.

Other than the blinking light from one of the pieces of equipment, the slow rise and fall of Ariel’s chest as she breathes and the drifting miasma of the gas there is no activity in the room. Colossus can hear activity nearby, so it might not be terribly long before someone joins them.

'*

Seeing Peter tear into the floor to get to Kitty, Kurt disappears, reappearing next to the obviously straining Rachel.

They can hear Xavier’s voice via the comm unit. “I concur with Phoenix’s assessment. This is clearly a technological thought relay. Miss Frost could construct something like this, but this one is too crude for active deployment; neither Phoenix nor I would have been fooled for this long were it not for the jammer. My theory is that Proudstar and his allies stole a prototype as part of this revenge scheme. Since there was no sign of deception on Thunderbird’s face during the video I suspect we’ve been decoyed – Banshee is in or on Cheyenne Mountain somewhere, but not inside NORAD. His plan was to let the Air Force thin our ranks before his final assault.”

“Unfortunately without Wolverine we won’t be able to find Sean as long as this jammer is constraining our search.”

Phoenix pushes directly against the psychic pressure of the jammer, finding a mind next to the jamming mechanism. It's a guard making sure no one approaches the device, as part of the security protocols initiated by the current superhuman intruder alert. Through his eyes she can spy a convenient space for Nightcrawler to take them.

Once he has the position from Phoenix, Nightcrawler ports the pair of them to the position, ready for immediate action.

'

Colossus slings Ariel over his shoulder, makes a quick leap to the hole he made in the ceiling and claws his way back to the room where Thunderbird had originally laid his trap. Once he's confirmed that Ariel isn't in any obvious jeopardy he taps hesitantly at her mini-computer, calling up the NORAD schematics. He quickly finds a path that will lead them to a place of relative safety and concealment, though no real close to exiting the facility.

Below them he hears someone enter the room he just left, "OK boys, suit..." THUD!

"Holy! Drag the sarge out of there! Alert! We have a perimeter breach in Guardsman Storage Two, intruders have deployed knockout gas. Sergeant Polaski is down."

There is a brief pause, "It appears the intruders tunneled into the room from above."

Colossus is on the move by then, exiting the room, closing it behind him and preparing to move through a cross-cross of passages to a medical storage room on this floor.

Changing to his slightly quieter human form Colossus moves as fast as he can while staying quiet, keeping out of sight of patrols until he reaches his destination. The room is locked, but a quick change back to metallic form and brief application of super-human strength snaps the lock with no outside signs of damage. Seconds after that he and Kitty are ensconced in a medical storage room lit with pale blue fluorescent lights. Ariel's breathing is still steady, but she is also still unconscious.

'''*

Nightcrawler materializes and punches the surprised guard square in the chin, sending the poor man to the ground, out cold.

"Aha! That felt better than it should have." Nightcrawler massages his knuckles, checks on Phoenix and looks about for the source of their psychic troubles.

Phoenix is clearly in pain, and more than pain. Kurt sees her eyes roll up in her head and she collapses under the psychic pressure of the jammer. Kurt has just enough time to grab her before she hits the floor.

Four X-men Down. Two to go.

Making her as comfortable as he can Nightcrawler goes to work on the machine, racing to be able to shut it down before it cause Phoenix irreparable damage.

After a moment or two of delicate work he reroutes the alarms and shuts the system down. He then crouches down over Phoenix to see if he can revive her.

Page 20 (Hellfire Club)

Emma Frost looks at Tarot and Catseye through slitted eyes. “Could you repeat that?”

Tarot swallows hard and says “James and Haroum left while you were in London. James was going to kidnap someone from Scotland to use as bait for the X-Men to get vengeance for his brother’s death.” He glances down at the Catseye, who is obviously uncomfortable in her human form. “The cards say it will all go wrong.”

Miss Frost is keeping an icy control over her features her and those damn cards. I would love to burn that obsession out of her but her psionic mutation is so delicate that I could destroy the whole thing.

“Thank you, girls. You did well to bring this to me.” She says aloud, standing to show them out of the room. “I will take care of this from here.”

She heads over to her desk and flips a switch, raising a quintet of screens. After a moment three of them flicker on displaying Shaw, Coy Mahn and Da Costa. Frost looks at them without fear or hesitation.

“One of my students decided to show some initiative. Thunderbird is moving forward with his vengeance quest on the X-Men and he convinced Jetstream to assist him. If my intuition is correct he has kidnapped Banshee, transported him to NORAD out of some symbolic idiocy and is hoping to ambush the X-Men there.”

Shaw pipes in “And hopefully have some of the trigger-happy air force engage them as well. It’s an audacious plan. I have some levers I can pull - I just wish he could have informed you in advance so we could better capitalize on the opportunity.”

“He should have told me in advance so I could have stopped him,” Frost says back. “I recommend sending a team out from Chicago to corral the Hellions and end this as quietly as possible.”

“Nonsense,” Shaw replies. “That would be more danger to the organization than what we have now. I’ll contact some people at the installation and make sure that our assets are shepherded out once their plan has played out.

Frost’s voice is icy, “They are my students, Shaw. My responsibility. And they are in no way prepared for this sort of encounter.”

“Proof’s in the pudding, Emma,” Shaw says back with a grin. “If they rack up a couple of X-Men notches on their belt I’d say they were ready… and a credit to their teacher.”

Before Frost can offer a reply Coy Mahn chimes in, “This is out of character for Thunderbird. More hot-headed than I took him for. His was a cold anger”

“Yeesssss. Yes it is,” Frost says, her eyes slitting in rage as Coy Mahn’s implication sinks in. “So you’ll support my position for reining them in?”

Coy Mahn smiles, “No, of course not. I appreciate your desire to husband your resources but I too want to see how well the Hellions do. I was doing much worse at their age, and Shaw’s connections make the risk minimal.”

“Da Costa?’ Frost asks

The Brazilian businessman has been listening intently. After a moment he responds “I have to support the White Queen. We can’t have our plans be dictated by the decisions of children.”

“And that he reminds you of your own son weighs into it not at all?” Coy Mahn needles.

“I have no son any longer,” Da Costa shoots back.

“Gentlemen, please,” Shaw cuts in. “That’s an even tie, but mine is the controlling vote. I will, of course, use every method at my disposal to secure our assets. Shaw out.”

The screens go dark – Shaw, then Coy Mahn, then Da Costa – who gives a sympathetic look before he too flickers out – leaving Emma alone in her office.

“Empath,” she spits. “oh how you will pay for this.”

Page 21 (Colossus)

Looking down at Kitty's unconscious form Peter can't help but remember back when he was that young...

It was his second week in the United State, the bastion of the capitalist evil, but no one there seemed terribly evil, and the art supplies Kurt helped him find were so much better than what he had been able to get on the farm. Sean had mentioned the existence of this bluff on the property, overlooking the lake. It sounded like the perfect place to get some solitude and try to capture the space of nature on the canvas, just as he had at home.

As he reached the top of the bluff, he discovered that he wasn't alone. Thunderbird was sitting there as well, in denim jeans and flannel shirt so new that they still had creases... much like Peter's own clothes. The speed of their recruitment prevented any of them - except Banshee and Wolverine, who both apparently had lifestyles that left them with bags full of clothes for departing at a moment's notice - from having their own things. That added to the sense of disorientation.

"Evening, Colossus," Thunderbird said, turning his head to address him.

"Ah... good evening," says Peter. He looks around, trying to find a spot somewhere other than he'd planned (with as good light), so as to leave the older man his privacy. His thought balloon reads "The light is best here, but... I do not wish to intrude."

"Grab a squat. You're losing light," Thunderbird tells him, and then turns his attention to rolling a cigarette.

"Thank you," says Peter. He sits down and starts sketching. After several minutes, he says, half apologetically (probably half addressing people who aren't there), "These really are better pencils than the ones I used at home. And the paper holds the color and lines better."

Thunderbird chuckles. "I'd tell you the white man keeps all the good stuff for himself, but that's not what happened where you came from, is it?" he takes a puff on his cigarette. "I guess it's the men in power who keep all the good stuff for themselves."

"You gonna start mailing stuff back to your folks? American blue jeans?"

"I... don't know," says Peter. "It might make things harder for them. But, I have already made it harder by coming here. And..." He sighs. "All of you are so much better at what you are doing than I am. It makes me wonder. Am I really of more use here than at home?"

"How old are you?" Thunderbird asks him. "What, fifteen?* You're a big guy, you look more like 19, 20, but you don't move like a man."

"...fourteen," Peter mumbles.

"I got a decade on you. Irish's got what, three over you? 'Course we're better at what we're doing. We've got more practice. Xavier's got no end of arrogance taking you out of your family at this age." He takes another puff on his cigarette. "You got a brother to pick up the slack?"

"I... did," says Peter. "He died three years ago."

Thunderbird says something unprintable, then adds “He get sick?”

"His rocket exploded on the launch pad."

Thunderbird shakes his head in sympathy. “Your spacemen, they’re national heroes right? That had to hit hard. But your brother, he died a hero, a warrior, doing what he wanted to do, what needed to get done. That’s the best any of us can hope for. When I go out I hope that’s what Xavier will be able to tell my folks.”

“Cold comfort to the kid brother, though. I got a brother myself, ‘bout 11 years old. Last ditch of the old family. Xavier can’t tell me if he got what I got.” He takes another puff, stares into space for a bit.

Page 22 (Banshee)

Sean slips his hands out of the ropes, which are slick with blood. “Not the most elegant way to get out, Moira’d likely rather yell about the laundry than me death.” He thinks. With his hands free he is able to wiggle his arms around to the front and then reaches out to grab a mid-sized rock.

“This whirrin’ and hummin’ gives me a good background echo. Got a good idea where everythin’ is in this place. Och but this is gonna sting.” He lowers his head and then slams the rock into the bands around his eyes and head. The eyepiece shatters and falls off, and also leaves him with a small cut on his temple, bleeding down the side of his head.

“”Don’t know if that took out the jammer. Have to hope it did,” he thinks, “cause I’m not sure I could do that again. But now we can see and hear. Better and better.”

He’s in a roughly formed cave, natural in appearance. “No equipment, so the vibration’s running through the stone from a ways off.” He turns his head and sees the mouth of the cave and the landscape beyond it. “Oh damn and blast, I’m at Cheyenne Mountain. The daft boy’s brought me to his brother’s grave.”

His slick hands go to work freeing his arms, then his feet and knees. Before he can make a break out of the cave he hears someone approaching. “An that’s just me Irish luck. Prof, if you can hear me now would be a good time!”

Sean runs for the back of the cave carrying his rock and some cable, trying to find some cover. “Got slightly better odds in the dark, I think. A little bit of surprise.”

Thunderbird enters the cave and stops when he spots the pile of cables, the blood and the shattered visor. he adopts a crouches posture, sniffing the air, and heads to the back of the cave into the blackness.

POW! BAM! CRASH!

In a few moments Thunderbird is dragging Banshee back to where he was. The older Irishman is in worse shape, but still conscious. Thunderbird has a bloody nose and a torn costume.

“I admit I underestimated you, Irish,” he says as he detaches the sonic baffle. “Won’t happen again.”

He crouches down and attaches a pair of shackles to Sean’s hands – they’re high tech and beeping. “See these? Friend of mine rigged these do explode at the slightest electronic disruption. You try to break them like you did the visor and *boom” off go the hands. Same thing if Miss Pryde tries to phase you out of them or vice versa. I’m telling you this so you can tell her. I’d hate for these to go off by accident. I got no beef with her”

Sean’s head lolls up at him to show he’s hearing this.

“Why are ye doin’ this.” Sean asks. “None o’ this is going to bring Johnny back.”

Thunderbird looks a little confused, then his face clears, “Too late anyway. Wolverine’s likely drowned, Rogue’s getting hammered by the US government and won’t last long and someone in there got a whiff of nerve gas. I might as well see this through.”

He reknots the cable around Sean’s feet, the pushes him face down on the cave with a rough shove that slams his head against the rock. This does two things: it stuns Sean so that he doesn’t see or hear Thunderbird go

And it finishes the job Sean started on the psi scrambler.

Good morning, Banshee. He hears Xavier say in his head a few moments later, Help is on the way.

Page 23 (X-Men)

Inside the Jammer room Nightcrawler sees Phoenix’s eyes flutter open and her face clear as she reaches out and locates all of her fellow X-Men.

Colossus, inside the medical storage room, finds some smelling salts and waves them under Ariel’s nose. The teenage mutant stirs, shifting herself onto one elbow as she regains consciousness.

Rogue, outside in a crater, shoves debris off of her and gropes around for her comm unit, reattaching it to her ear as she stands up, her uniform having been torn to bits in a comics code appropriate fashion.

Wolverine, on a trail in the woods, has somehow found and stolen someone’s cross country motorbike [he did say he was securing alternate transport…]. He is pausing just for a second to get a look at the mountain.

Time for round two.

"Ooooh," Ariel moans, then coughs and mutters, "who else is in line to thrash that guy for this?"

Rogue: tests her com unit. "Nightcrawler! Are you guys there?

Nightcrawler replies, quietly, via the com device. "Rogue, we're here. What's your situation?"

"Got missiled. I'm ok but I've lost my fix on Wolverine's position. Gotta assume Norad aren't gonna give up on chasing me either. Can Rache give me a direction or do ya want me back with you?”

Kurt replies "This whole thing's been a set-up; we were decoyed by a fake Banshee. But now we've shut down the psi-jammer Rachel will contact Wolverine and you to relay our position. You make for us at top speed."

Professor! Nightcrawler reaches out with his thoughts, hoping to hear a reply. Are you safe Professor? Can you hear me?

I am fine, Nightcrawler, and my awareness of your position is significantly improved since you shut off that infernal machine. I can confirm that Banshee and Thunderbird are on the exterior of the mountain. I'm working on pinning them down... there is a brief, regretful pause, within my current limitations. I might be inaccessible for a time during that investigation. Phoenix is more than capable of communicating in my absence.

Nightcrawler takes his cue Phoenix, are you all right? Can you coordinate the team? We need to regroup and locate Banshee and Thunderbird. Where are Colossus and Ariel?

Still under the mountain, Ariel reports blearily. Gimme a minute...

Ariel gropes for her computer only to have Colossus hand it to her. She calls up the schematic and tries to find the fastest, quietest way out.

I'm fine, Phoenix sends, Now that the jammer's off, at least. Seems like we've got two issues. First, getting to and rescuing Banshee. And second, stopping the authorities from interfering--or deciding, after all this, that the X-Men are a threat. If Ariel and Colossus can make their own way out, so can Kurt and I, but now that we don't need to invade Cheyenne Mountain, we might want to let people know we're not a threat.

We're better off out of here and soonest, I feel, Nightcrawler sends in reply. Focus on finding Banshee and worry about our tattered reputation later.

Ariel has the best chance of getting to Banshee, and Colossus is with her for support. You're right, Phoenix; lets see if we can talk some sense into the commanders until they locate and secure Banshee. What's the disposition of the guards and who's likely to get in Ariel and Colossus's way?

No Need Ariel responds, I have a safe way out.

Kurt wraps an arm around Rachel and the pair of them disappear.

We can only hope, Kurt thinks, half in prayer as he wraps an arm around Rachel and the pair of them disappear.

Page 24 (Rogue)

Rogue takes off. Flying no more than 10 or 15 feet above the ground and making use of tree cover she heads back towards the others as fast as she can, keeping an ear out for missiles and/or Jetstream.

She slaloms through the trees at impressive speed, and after a few minutes hears a sound with which she is unfortunately familiar - the distinctive rumble of iron Man's boot rockets. Tilting her head at the sound she makes out two figures in green armor overhead, scanning the area. At the moment it doesn't look like they've spotted her.

Rogue: Sigh! *snafu!*

Rogue hides for a few heartbeats to gauge if they are looking for her with anything more sophisticated than eyeballs. Getting a longer look at them she sees that their face plates don’t have any openings – everything must be done via heads up displays and sealed systems.

Way up past them in the sky she makes out a small, unmoving reddish dot. Jetstream, watching her troubles.

Before she can act on that one of the Guardsmen points in her direction and the pair rocket down towards her. She takes off again, affecting to cradle her arm against her body to look more damaged that she is and strikes off at a new angle so as to not lead these guys back to the rendezvous site. Behind her the guardsmen hold out their hands, palms flat, and repulsor beams – obviously fired wide – tear into the ground around her.

“Rogue, you are ordered to surrender to military custody. Land or we will fire”

As she faces the Guardsmen’s her eyes fic on the red dot of Jetstream. She cringes "Oh God! Not him. Not again. No!" She moves crabwise, rapidly, to put the Guardsmen between her and Jetstream, thinking how fast are these overdressed Starklets I wonder? When they don't fall for this I'm gonna find out ... one way or another

The Guardsmen go to a hover when she lands, and then glance at each other as if confused. One of them keeps an eye on her while the other one does a rollover to look where she's looking. There might be communications between them and their base that she can't hear, but it's obvious when the watcher turns back around with a shrug that he's not seeing Jetstream.

"Rogue, lie down on the ground with your hands behind your back. We are about to apply restraints."

Before she can move, or before the guardsmen can follow through on their actions, Rogue sees the red dot start to move at blinding speed. It's all her eyes can do to follow him as Jetstream flies in a wide, speed gathering arc down from where he is, over and past her position, down and then past her . She nearly has time to grab him, directed by her Seventh Sense, but he's just too quick and he pours on the speed just as he passes her, nearly overbalancing her, sending her hair ruffling, the trees shaking and all the pine needles, dirt, twigs and other debris past her into his wake. His arc carries him directly between the two guardsmen and they are slammed not just by his backwash but by the sonic boom he generates directly between them, sending both armored men tumbling into the trees with what must be painful crashes.

"Alert, Alert, we are under attack! Rogue just fired some sort of wind blast at us!"

Prof, I know you wanted me not to hurt these little darlin’s…but I’ve got no other choice Rogue sends along the psi link as she drops to one knee, hands down in the dirt.

The two Guardsmen recover and aim repulsors at her… then stop as she appears to be surrendering.

She looks up, still making like she’s horrified. She spies where Jetstream has stopped to observe, some distance away, “No, I won’t let you take them too!” she yells and then hurls two enormous handfuls of earth towards Jetstream. The clods pass between the two Guardsmen, collapsing into individual bits of gravel and dirt in flight. By the time it reaches Jetstream’s location it’s an enormous cloud with the consistency of buckshot.

The youth is taken completely unaware buy the tactic, but even still his speed nearly saves him – it’s the width of the cloud of debris that catches him, pelting his legs with dozens of high speed projectiles. If his power had been artificial he might still have gotten away, but since it requires his concentration to stay aloft the stunned mutant drops to the ground, taking out a tree limb on the way before hitting the dirt. Rogue can see that he’s still conscious for all that, and stirring.

“Command, we have something really weird happening here… I’m going to direct visual.” One Guardsman says

“Negative on that defense breach” the base radios back but the pilot has already flipped open his faceplate.

“Command, we have a second bogie that hasn’t been registering to scanners. It…it looks like Rogue has been trying to protect us from it.”

Page 25-31 (X-Men)

Ariel reaches out to take Colossus hand and, once she has it, rockets off on her planned route out of the complex. Her goal is to pass by no security cameras and short out no computers. For people, she’s hoping that her and Colossus streaking by at 90 miles per hour is enough to prevent any clear visual.

Her head is aching at the concentration needed for this burst of higher speed after the pounding she already took from the nerve gas, but she holds it together. The pair fly past two people, one of whom has time enough for a shocked look, and then are nearly out of the mountain when they hear the professor’s telepathic voice.

I have located Banshee. Please follow these directions. When you arrive you will have to manually disable his manacles lest they explode.

Ariel sends her assent but continues her flight, avoiding any other encounters until she's outside. She then slows down to a more reasonable speed to prevent further mental exhaustion and skirts the treeline to the spot the professor is indicating - a cave mouth at the base of the mountain, away from the regular facility.

Recon from above, Ariel advises Peter and the others, and carefully circles around to be able to approach the cave through the rock above it without (hopefully) being spotted on the way by anyone near the cave mouth. Any sign of Thundershmuck?

Show a little decorum, Ariel, the Professor responds. His thoughts are still being transmitted to the interior of the mountain, and he has a very disciplined mind. I'm having difficulty locating him.

Ariel's recon reveals Banshee where the Prof has said and long stretch of cave in the back that is too dark to properly assess. At this point Ariel starts to get seriously shaky and ha to return to Colossus and resolidify. She's having problems drawing enough air into her lungs and her head is killing her.

She sits down on the ground next to Colossus a little harder than she intended to, panting. Gotta ... rest a minute ... she sends, rubbing her forehead. Then she starts fumbling in one of her belt pouches, looking for one of the packets of painkillers that she keeps there.

As she struggles a bit to swallow the pill, Ariel's eyes widen and she looks at Colossus as if wondering whether he's hearing what she's hearing. Okay, Professor, she says.

"Are you all right?" says Colossus.

"Yeah," she says quietly. "It's just that my lungs are upset." She coughs, trying to muffle the sound. "Did I remember to thank you for pulling me out of there?"

Colossus shifts awkwardly. "That is what we do," he says. "We are there for each other. All of us."

"Well, today seems like a 'don't take it for granted' sort of day," she replies. Tentatively, she takes a deeper breath, assessing whether she's able to move on yet.

'''''

Nightcrawler and Phoenix reappear outside at the rendezvous point.

Overhead they can make out a pair of green-armored figures flying in apparent pursuit of something or someone.

I have located Banshee. Xavier tells them, I am directing Ariel and Colossus in his location.

We get a shot of the inside of the Blackbird where Xavier has re-wired part of the communications console to accept a feed from Kitty's communicators for rebroadcast on terrestrial frequencies - this will let the X-Men contact NORAD without tipping that the psi-jammer has been shut down.

Rewiring complete. I am scanning the minds of the staff to find the right frequency for broadcast. Let's see if Phoenix's gambit works.

Nightcrawler nods appreciatively. God grant that they listen to us.

He keeps a sharp eye on the armoured figures, and forwards their position to Rogue via Xavier if possible. We're outside the mountain, Rogue, rendezvous with us if you need assistance.

Before Xavier can find the frequency the radio chirps. "Blackbird this is Cypher. Please answer."

Xavier grabs the headset and dons it. "Professor here, Cypher. Go ahead."

"The Hellfire feed from SF got a hit, so I followed Kitty's instructions and decoded it," Cypher says. "The White Queen informed the others of the operation; it was not authorized, and is limited to Jetstream and Thunderbird. Queen wants to send in agents to pull them out. Black King overruled her. He's pulling string to alert base to your presence under claims of a criminal assault, setting up to shield Jetstream and T-Bird if they don't get clear on their own."

Xavier ponders this for a second, "Thank you Cypher. We'll recalibrate. Professor out."

He gets back on the psi-Link, transmitting the new data to the team. Phoenix, I'm sensing from the base commander that Shaw has already made these calls, and both SHIELD and Gyrich have labeled us a threat. Fortunately Wolverine recent taught me that I have been setting my verisimilitude bar too high. Here is how I recommend we go forward....

[BR: This won't actually be discussed on screen, but here's the plan from Charles' voice: Rogue is to continue her false panic, hurriedly explaining that the figure on the ground is an... ancient Egyptian super-villain, recently freed, going by the nom de guerre of... Apocalypse. That sounds just ridiculous enough. His magic makes him immune to modern technology, which is why the Guardsmen can't see him and should not engage. The X-Men have been trying to contain him before he could... um... enter NORAD and force a missile launch where the missiles in order to... usher in a new Pharonic Dynasty (oh this is absurd...no Charlie, you're doin' great). Apocalypse is capable of summoning earth spirits act as an army - those the Guardsmen can try to engage. Phoenix, use your TK powers at invisible levels to create humanoid dust and dirt monsters to keep the Guardsmen busy while, Wolverine, Rogue and Nightcrawler subdue Jetstream. I will prevent him from just flying away – the X-Men have to be seen to win. Colossus, Ariel, free Banshee from his explosive restraints and get him out of here. Once he's clear the X-Men will depart. Everyone understand?]

Nightcrawler responds. Understood, Herr Director. We can take it to Broadway once we get out of this mess.

"Right, Phoenix I'll need a fix on the surface to 'port us out."

They appear some distance away, behind cover. The pair immediately duck down and assess the situation - Rogue has just taken Jetstream down with her shotgun of earth and the Guardsmen (one with his visor up, the other with the visor down) are either receiving orders or trying to figure out what to do.

'''*

Reassured, she clambers to her feet. Starting in now, she says, reverting to the telepathic link and holding her hand out to Colossus. I'll drop Colossus to guard the entrance. Assuming nothing's changed inside, of course.

With Colossus' formidable and reassuring bulk protecting her from a possible Apache attack from the trees, Ariel heads inside and greets Banshee.

The Irish mutant smiles to see her. "Grateful for the assist. The big spaleen says that these things'll detonate if you try to phase me out of them. Seen' as I'm awful attached to me hands I'd rather you jimmy the lock, if you're up for it."

Ariel takes a moment to look them over - her head still a little fuzzy. They look high tech... and could well be rigged to explode. She has to solidify to concentrate and nearly slips on the rocks when she does so, sending a few pebbles skittering. Taking a second to steady herself she looks at the manacles again, extracts a flashlight and multi-tool from her pack and starts trying to piece together how they work. Banshee has a bit of a concerned look on his face seeing how shaky she is but says nothing that would distract her.

Colossus, at the front of the cave, sees or hears nothing approaching.

Kitty finally gets the top plate of the right manacle off and the sense of wrongness grows as she looks at it. The blinking lights and dials are just...blinking lights and dials. There's nothing high tech about these at all, and certainly nothing explosive. Just a sham to keep Banshee in place... and to make her solidify!

Krak!

The thrown rock takes her square in the side of the head and for the second time today Ariel drops to the ground unconscious. She's going to have one hell of a headache in the morning.

"Kitty!" Banshee yells as she falls. Thunderbird is running out of the darker shadows at the back of the cave.

'

“Command, we have a second bogie that hasn’t been registering to scanners. It…it looks like Rogue has been trying to protect us from it.”

“Negative on that – we have received SHIELD notification that a mutant threat is targeting the installation. You are ordered to restore hull integrity and subdue Rogue.”

Inside the facility we see the captain who was advocating against attack earlier talking to a Colonel. “Sir, we have a confirmed visual of another bogie. Why can we not investigate?”

The Colonel shoots back “Because I have intel reports from two sources that an evil mutant organization is planning to attack this facility. That woman,“ he points at the screen where a camera is showing Rogue, her costume in its current state of shredded disarray, “Is a confirmed member of an evil mutant organization that has attacked the Avengers, a federal penitentiary, the Pentagon and the Heli-carrier. So we engage. According to het file she can absorb people’s brains with skin to skin contact, so my men in the field stay sealed up tight.”

“But sir,” the captain says, holding out a sheet of paper, “SHIELD has reduced Rogue’s threat level; she’s only wanted for questioning. Why can’t we hear her out?”

The Colonel snatches the paper out of his hand, “If she’s going to surrender we’ll bring her in and question her. I’ll even question her about the hole someone ripped into our armor storage room and the gas that’s cut our Guardsmen force in half. I am not putting my force at risk.”

“But if there is another bogie, sir? Is that putting them at risk?”

There is a moment of silence as everyone in the room is straining to listen but trying to not look like they’re doing so.

The colonel turns to the airman at a communication desk, “Set mandroids 1 and 2 on internal security, re-assign Guardsmen 3 and 4 to exterior patrol, top speed. Have them flank the encounter site visors up and give us human visual. If ANYONE approaches them they seal up and shoot.”

“Aye aye, Colonel,” the airman says.

'''''*

Rogue starts waving the Guardsmen away from the fallen Jetstream, "Stay back from him! That isn't a kid, it's an immortal Egyptian pharaoh called Apocalypse. Technology doesn't work on him. The X-Men have been dogging him for hours trying to stop him from getting in here to launch a missile strike!"

Xavier adds Phoenix, conjure us up some earth warriors to shadow box, if you please.

You got it. Rocks rise, apparently of their own accord, forming into roughly humanoid -- and in some cases, sauran or octopoid -- figures. You know, I used to do this all the time in training -- we didn't have a Danger Room any more, so if we were going to have practice against groups of opponents, it was usually either me or nothing. I never thought it would be so directly useful, though

Nightcrawler teleports from his position to arrive - mid cartwheel - among the dirt-born 'soldiers'. With kicks, punches and as much panache as he can muster he whirls about, putting on a brave display.

He calls out, hoping to be heard by the Guardsmen as he performs. "Back, foul Egyptian creatures! Back, I say! Your master, Apocalypse, will not win this day!"

Wolverine responds telepathically Yeesh. You gonna put that in a sonnet next, Fuzzy? the team can sense that he's managed to get back to the thick of things and is now hunkered in a tree nearby

There's a showman's smile in Nightcrawler's professional reply Rogue! Close with and neutralize Jetstream, please. I don't want him getting away too soon and taking our evidence with him.

Phoenix approaches a stone "saurian" that is sneaking up on Nightcrawler, and blasts it with telekinetic force -- but more creatures are forming to replace those who have fallen.

The Guardsmen, upon seeing this, also launch repuslor attacks on the dust devils, shattering them, but the army seems limitless. The one who had raised his visor lowers it "We are under attack by some sort of earth-creatures. We have engaged, and suspect threat is minimal at present."

The reply is "As long as you think you are safe continue your focus on Rogue - apprehend her for questioning. We have nothing on file for this 'Apocalypse'. But he doesn't seem too tough."

Can't have them thinkin' that. Rache, can you give me a dirt cloud? Wolverine thinks.

Once Phoenix has covered him with a dust cloud, making him look like one of Apocalypse's Dust Devils Wolverine leaps down from his treetop perch into the Guardsman who has not yet spoken. The flying figure staggers under the impact, twisting around in mid-air as Wolverine hits the ground, rolls and vanishes into the tree line.

"Alert, Alert one of these dirt creatures just ripped a hole in my armor. I have an armor breach and 20% systems loss!"

That'll put the fear of Apocalypse into 'em Wolverine thinks

Still pretending to be injured Rogue sort of bunny-hop/flies to Jetstream's position grabbing one of the splintered bits of tree trunk on the way in the good arm. Rogue digs the fingers of her good 'hand' into a moderate sized tree, uproots it and plants it across Jetstream, hoping the weight, bolstered with her own strength, will pin him down. Doing so flattens the youth, who was starting to rise, back to the ground.

Editorial Box: "Jetstream is one of those rare mutants whose mutation does not fully protect him from its use. The first time he flew at his full speed the air friction burned most of his skin off and damaged his eyes. Emma Frost found him in a hospital bed and, using the same cybernetics technology that make Franklin Pierce, gave the boy new eyes that can see vast distances, some extendable scramjets for extra speed and mobility, and a new skin with many interesting features. It absorbs radar and other senor waves, for example, and also absorbs the air friction caused by his powers to charge an internal battery to power his cybernetics. He can channel that charge through his skin, with a shock based on how long and how fast he's been flying.

"Jetstream's been flying a lot over the last few days. The charge hits Rogue's tree like a thunderbolt."

The panel shows the tree exploding into flinders with Rogue and the two Guardsmen silhouetted in the explosion. One of the guardsmen yells "Holy!" even if none of the shrapnel makes it through their armor or Rogue's invulnerability.

The next panel shows Jetstream standing up, but he hasn't made it airborne yet.

Rogue: startled! *that's right. Cyber- skin! Aw heck! Does that mean I missed a chance to give him a proper smack in the mouth?!*

With the nearest length of tree branch or good sized rock in hand, Nightcrawler 'ports behind Jetstream and pegs him across the back of the head. "That's quite enough of that, 'Apocalypse'."

There's a loud crack and the young man staggers forward several steps. He doesn't quite collapse, however, and even manages to get airborne in a shaky fashion.

Phoenix gestures and a number of the figures collapse, new ones reforming further back as she advances, and a ring of them forms around the injured "Apocalype" to protect him from further assault. Meanwhile, she sends her mind into Jetstream's.

Her mind touches his and finds that the boy is near panic - this has gone way past his original plan, especially since the Guardsmen are now aware of his presence - and he just wants to run, find Thunderbird and get the two of them out of here. His brains slightly scrambled from Nightcrawler's hit he's in no condition to do that.

The damaged guardsmen receives orders - "get some altitude and act as eyes on this joker; we have reinforcements coming in" and follows them, flying well up into the sky and opening his faceplate to get a visual on Jetstream.

"New bogie is airborne but it looks like the muties have him partially contained."

"Roger that. Reinforcements in 15 seconds."

'''*

Colossus sprints towards his allies, but even with his size and speed he's no match for the inhumanly fast Apache. Thunderbird drops something on top of Ariel's unconscious body - something small, metal with blinking lights and whatnot - and holds up his hand for Colossus to stop.

"Hold it right there. Both of these two have bombs on them now that I'll detonate unless you do what I tell you."

Thunderbird goes on, "I've got nothing against Kitty - she wasn't there - but you and Banshee and Wolverine and Xavier," he spits, "you led John to his death and then abandoned him. So I have to... settle that."

There's something ragged in Thunderbird's anger that Peter can see in his stance, hear in his voice. Like it's fraying somehow.

"So you're going to change back human, we're going to have it out."

"All right," says Colossus, as if this were a rational and polite suggestion. "Turn the bombs off first. I'm not going anywhere. This needs to be settled."

Thunderbird nods, pushes a button on a device on his belt that makes both high tech devices go "ping" and then moves forward in a wrestler's stanch, waiting for Colossus to fulfill his end of the bargain. The earlier confusion has been replaced by a sense of satisfaction - that he's able to fairly engage one of those responsible for his brothers death in honorable combat.

When Peter changes back to his organic form Banshee yells out "No, Petey, he's too strong! He'll kill ye!"

"If you do," says Peter, looking Thunderbird in the eyes, "will you tell my parents? My little sister shouldn't have to be the one to tell them they've lost their other son. They... never really recovered from losing Mikhail."

Thunderbird stops, staring at him. "Maybe Xavier should have thought of that before..." he shakes his head, looking seriously confused before yelling "Shut up, shut up. Let's just do this. John deserves this!"

'''''

The other Guardsman sets his repulsors on wide angle, spraying down the area to disrupt the dust creatures. The X-Men note that he is not targeting them, for all that his beams are coming close, as he blasts the creatures into oblivion only to see new ones form.

"Targeting the dust creatures seems pointless. Permission to engage new bogie."

"Didn't they say he was immune to technology." They radio back.

"Affirmative. I intend to hit him with a rock."

Wolverine, no longer covered with dust, emerges from the trees and starts wading into the dust creatures with convincing verisimilitude, making it look like he is cutting a path for Rogue to get access to the flying Apocalypse.

• Rock!! There's a notion.* Rogue thinks,. Hefts a goodly sized bit of debris that is an easy weight for her one handed but about the weight of a well stocked mini-bar at his chest. "Catch!"

The rock slams into his chest, knocking all the air out of his lungs and sending him flattening back into the dirt. It doesn't land on him, which is cold comfort.

Phoenix can sense that he's nearly unconscious and borderline panicked. His plan is still to make a break to Thunderbird, but he's got doubts as to how.

Jetstream, Phoenix sends to the kid, We're going to try to make sure we -all- get out of here. Which may mean you have to play along when we try to help you "escape"

Mentally rehearsing his last couple of sparring bouts with Wolverine in his memory, Nightcrawler 'ports forward and tries to get the young Hellion in a wrestling hold. A sleeper hold would be ideal, but failing that anything that keeps him pointed head down at the ground.

Kurt snags the boy just as he's struggling to his knees, grabbing him and holding him still, if not prone.

Not loud enough to be overheard by the Guardsmen, Nightcrawler says, "C'mon, my young warrior, it's time we got you and Thunderbird out of the mess you've made. Don't struggle and we'll all get out of here alive."

'''

Phoenix runs towards the fight, blowing stone warriors out of her way as she goes, but she is too late. As she approaches, a whirlwind (air manipulation isn't trivial, so spend karma for what's needed if it's more than green) springs up, filled with dust and rock.

It takes Phoenix out immediately, who curls up, protecting her face and eyes while it spreads out, but after a few moments, it disipates, leaving a medium sized crater, with at it's bottom the moue of a collapsed tunnel. "Apocalypse" and Nightcrawler are nowhere to be seen.

In the middle of the duststorm there is a flare of orange-red fire. The Guardsman still in the general radius of the fight instinctively shields his face, and everyone can hear the whine of his boot-jets against the sudden wind.

"They're...They're gone!" he shouts when the storm ends.

"I think I've got a fix on them through the jammer static," Phoenix says, "but it's going to be hell to maintain; we have to move fast!"

Phoenix takes to the air, telekinetically pulling Rogue and Wolverine to her. The wounded Rogue is leaning heavily against the young mentalist to avoid hurting her 'damaged' arm, but once she's held the trio rocket off at a speed the Guardsmen would have to strain to catch.

Two more of the green armored figures arrive on the scene. The one who was present looks at the other two and, with his head cocked in a confused stance.

"What the heck just happened here?"

Meanwhile some two miles away at the rendezvous site Kurt appears with a highly battered, stunned Hellion.

"Uuuugh..." Jetstream says, but he manages to stand up; he looks shaky but still has a proud bearing.

Kurt, Jetstream is willing to listen to reason if handled gently. I have to keep my focus on Colossus, Ariel and Banshee. The professor tells Nightcrawler before signing off.

Understood, Herr Professor.

Nightcrawler turns his attention to his unwilling travel companion, and sits him down carefully under the tree cover. [MC: Thinking both that it's better to remain unobserved and that if Jetstream wants to flee straight up he's going to bang his head on the branches above en route.]

"So, Mr. al-Rashid. It's quite the hornets' nest you've stirred up at Cheyenne Mountain. I doubt you intended to be seen but it's a bit late for that. Where is Thunderbird? I need to get him and my team out of here before the Army realise they've been hoodwinked.

"Does Ms. Frost know you're here?"

Jetstream looks up at Nightcrawler in silent defiance until that last question. At that calm familiar mentioning of his teachers name the enormity of the trouble they could be in hits home.

"No, she doesn't," he says, rubbing the back of his head where Kurt had tagged him with the branch.

Kurt's face assumes his best approximation of a kindly uncle. "Well, it could be worse. They're not on the best of terms, but I'm sure the Professor can persuade Ms. Frost not to take it out on the rest of your team, at least. No one - I hope - has been badly hurt. I'd like to keep it that way. Do you have any means of contacting Thunderbird now? We need to intervene before someone *does* get hurt."

"He's carrying a radio, but he told me he was setting up an ambush and turned it off to stay quiet," Jetstream says.

Nightcrawler unslings his backpack and digs out the first aid kit. "C'mon, let me take a look at your injuries. I should be able to take the sting out of that egg on your head...."

"Sorry about that, by the way. Mind you, if Rogue got her hands on you there'd be more to worry about than concussion."

We'll just have to hope that Colossus doesn't do anything stupid Kurt thinks.

'''''

Thunderbird takes a step forward, getting ready to take a swing at Peter, but it looks like something in him needs Peter to take the first shot.

Peter isn't about to oblige him there. He waits.

After a forced pause Thunderbird lashes out. The punch is delivered with accuracy and skill, knocking Peter back into the cave wall, and into a half slump. Having sparred with the original Thunderbird

Peter knows this blow, for all its power, wasn't delivered with a fraction of what James Proudstar must be capable of.

"We didn't, you know," he says, standing up, slowly, and breathing heavily. "I don't know... what you were told... but, we didn't."

"Didn't what?!" Thunderbird demands, running over to lift Peter up before he finishes standing and slamming him against the wall, "Didn't what? Didn't pull him away from his home? Didn't push him into a murder zone? Didn't leave him hanging from the side of a burning plane? Xavier may not have pulled the trigger but he's responsible. Someone has to be responsible!"

Peter shakes his head (and likely wishes he hadn't). "We didn't.... leave him.... We didn't... abandon him.... He went ahead and...Sean was the only other... who could fly. He... told John... to let go.... John wouldn't. He... wouldn't let anyone help him... or stop him... or save him."

"WHY NOT?" Thunderbird screams at him, slamming him back into the wall again and again. "Why didn't! He jump! off the plane!" Finally Thunderbird lashes out with a punch so ill aimed that it probably wasn't really meant for Peter, shattering the rock to the left of his head/ The shards open up a small cut on Peter's cheek. The big Russian slides out of the way as Thunderbird lashes out at the wall again and again , pulverizing stone with his fists and after the third hit leaving behind streaks of blood.

Banshee is standing up at this point, having checked Ariel's unconscious body, his arms still handcuffed in front of him, watching this outpouring of grief.

"I don't know," says Peter, when he's had a chance to catch his breath. "We've... all asked that question. Many times." He reaches over and lays his hand on the boy’s shoulder, trying to subtly restrain him.

Peter! Phoenix sends, The fight's over, and he's not holding back any more! Do you want to die for no good reason, too?*

Colossus! Change now! The professor thunders in Peter's head, and years of training allow him to trigger the transforming just in time, as Thunderbirds instinctive, grief-stricken swing to keep anyone from touching him slams into Colossus' chest just as he is changing. Again the large Russian is tossed across the room like a rag doll, but this time the impact shatters the wall, burying Peter for a moment under the rubble.

"Peter" Banshee yells, stumbling over and trying ineffectually to pull aside the rubble. "No Peter... No no no!"

Thunderbird, coming to his senses, likewise stumbles over and hefts a huge piece of rubble off of the buried form, "No... I never... What have I"

Banshee scrapes away enough dirt to see that Peter's arm is metallic and dares let himself hope. "Colossus, are ye there, lad?"

There's a series of three panels (probably at the bottom or top of a page). In the first, there's no response from the pile of rubble. In the second, rubble and dirt start falling. In the third, Colossus digs himself out.

Thunderbird stands there, staring at him, trying to articulate what is going through his head.

"Callisto... is going... to kill me," Colossus mumbles (in small type).

"Colossus, why don't ye pick yer lass up and we can get outta here before the air force turns up?" Banshee says, leaving the boy's apology understood if unsaid.

He nods and picks up Ariel (not correcting Banshee's assumption, and possibly wincing if he's feeling that rib).

Page 32-33 (X-Men)

All of the X-Men, along with the two corralled Hellions, are back at the manor in the study.

Rogue is dressed in her short kimono, souvenir from Logan's not-wedding trip to Japan, leggings and boots and clean gloves. Also hairband. She is concentrating hard on a series of happy images of ice cream and flowers and tossing rocks at Jetstream so as to maintain the proper demeanour expected by the Professor.

"For what it's worth, we're sorry..." Thunderbird says

"Sorry?!!" Kitty says loudly, then winces and presses one hand to her head, just above her bandaged temple. She's changed into jeans and a long-sleeved polo shirt.

Kurt is dressed in grey flannel exercise pants and a white sleeveless vest. His bare feet suggest he glad to be out of uniform.

"Ach, Kitty, take it gently. We'll get nowhere if we start shouting at each other."

He turns to Thunderbird and Jetstream. "That goes for you two as well." Then more politely he gestures to the various couches and chairs. "Please, let's all sit down and talk."

Kitty subsides, but can be seen on a couch with her arms crossed, glowering at the two Hellions.

Doug is sitting beside her but not making any calming gestures yet, 'cause he knows better.

"I don't really know what to say," James says. The two of them are out of their Hellions uniforms and wearing some borrowed clothes. "I just felt like I had to do _something_ for Johnny. I'd been planning for a while, especially when I found Ms. Frost's thought-shifting prototype. Haroum was willing to help me."

"But of course, mon amis," Haroum responds, and then gives a philosophical shrug, "though in retrospect it might have been better if I had taken Tarot's side."

Kurt communicates silently with Rachel. Phoenix, do you detect any signs of tampering or manipulation in either boy's mind? If you can assess their thoughts without risk to them or yourself, of course.

Of course. They've been manipulated emotionally, although it's just traces now

Aren't we going to tell them about that? thinks Colossus.

My instinct, sends the Professor is to inform their teacher for in-school reaction. Master de la Rocha has crossed a line here, but it might be better for their accepted authority figure to do so. After a pause he adds I am open to persuasion otherwise, if you feel that is our ducking a responsibility.

You know them, I don't, not really Phoenix sends, But I think they deserve to know they've been manipulated--that this wasn't -just- them being stupid

Peter thinks (sends? beams?) general agreement. Whether their teacher tells them or we tell them, the important thing is that they know this happened to them.

Rogue frowns and her face takes on a more mature, concentrated expression - one that causes Logan a start of recognition. This was a violation. And a breach of trust. They need to know.

I agree, the Professor sends. I'm just not sure we're the best people to tell them, as we're not in a position to mete out punishment on the perpetrator, and I don't know how controlled either of them would be if left to their own devices. If they opt not to return to Academy then the circumstances would certainly change...."

Kurt responds, Professor, with respect, how can these young men make a decision about returning to the Academy without the full facts? Do you trust Emma Frost to allow them to leave, or de la Rocha for that matter to leave them their free will should they choose to confront him? I think they should be told. I will do so, if you think they'd hear it better coming from me.

I would never place that burden on you, Kurt. I will tell them, despite the risks.

There are risks either way, thinks Peter. Professor, _do_ you trust Emma Frost to tell them and to deal with de la Roacha? And to allow them to leave? If you do, then I think she should be the one to tell them. He gives Nightcrawler an apologetic look.

For the former, yes, I do. Based on her reactions in our intercepted transmission I expect that she already suspects de la Rocha's involvement and will move to resolve it, if only to secure her own authority. In fact my thinking had been that extending Ms. Frost more trust than Shaw had in this matter would serve to start a psychological wedge between them that would ultimately benefit all of the Hellions. Xavier pauses for a second, then continues In the latter, however, no, I cannot be certain that she would allow them to leave, though I suspect that if de la Rocha were properly disciplined these young men would choose to stay.

Rogue/Carol: *They are not 'wedges'. They are people!*

Exactly, Rogue, Nightcrawler agrees. We should give these young men the facts as best we know them and allow them the freedom to make their own choices. Once they're back in the academy, who can guarantee their choices will be entirely their own? The X-Men's agenda comes second to doing the right thing.

Aloud, Kurt replies. "Tarot's side? What did Tarot propose, Mr. al-Rashid?"

"She said to not go. She said it would end poorly." Jetstream shrugs.

Thunderbird shakes his head, "Marie-Ange said that it would be catastrophic. And I was too proud to listen."

Kitty puts in, "Well who *did* help you? Or did you make those techno toys yourselves?" She obviously doesn't believe the latter for a second.

Jetstream shoots her an equally contemptuous look, holds up his hand and strips the artificial skin off its back, revealing the data access ports on the artificial limb underneath. He then looks back at Nightcrawler, saying "it was a challenge to alter their shipping logistics to insert the receiving end of Ms. Frost's thought shifter but we could manage it. The rest of the fake bombs and whatnot were très simple."

Kurt smiles wryly. "And Ms. Frost? How will she take it when she discovers what you've done?"

Both young men grimace. "I expect we'll see some... repercussions," Thunderbird says. "She can get pretty harsh, but she's been fair to us overall. And it doesn't look like the air force boys will ever really know exactly what went down out there."

"That could have had... repercussions for mutants everywhere, including your fellow classmates," says Peter. He stops there, figuring that if they can't do the math, Kitty can help them through it.

The boys are silent at this, knowing they have no good response.

Kitty has calmed down under the influence of the telepathic discussion, as evidenced by her more relaxed position. "Seriously," she says. "You must know that some people in the government believe all mutants are bad. How could encouraging that 'shoot on sight' attitude seem like a good idea even for a minute?"

Rogue/Carol: quiet voice "Well they aren't the only ones in this room who have let personal passions run to the level of vendetta. And they did step back before something irrevocable happened." Rogue/Carol looks at the floor for this speech. It is clear she is speaking of herself.

Nightcrawler places a reassuring hand on Rogue's shoulder. "We all could have handled things better. The good Lord knows we have more in common than cause for fighting. Let us take courage and learn from this, and build a way for mutants to disagree without having to resort to violence."

Deliberately aloud, Nightcrawler says, "Professor. I think we should share our concerns with these young men."

Both young men turn to look at the Professor.

As you wish, Kurt, Xavier sends to him alone. I did ask for an auxiliary conscience.

"In the aftermath of today's events I took he liberty of a brief psionic scan of all involved to search for traumas or outside influences. In both of you I found remnants of an external effect of an empathic nature."

In the first half of the sentence Jetstream looks much more aggrieved than Thunderbird, as if the latter assumed the professor would do something like that. When Xavier has finished both are visibly angry. "Empath," al-Rashid spits "I am going to break his scrawny little neck!"

Thunderbird, in contrast, calms more quickly. "We will, of course, ask Ms. Frost to confirm this. Even if it's true it doesn't let me, us, completely off the hook. I had been planning vengeance on you well before I got to the Academy, professor. De la Rocha might have provided water and sunlight, but I planted that seed myself."

"I am not so sure," says Peter, slowly. "I mean... yes, you were planning, but... even when he was influencing you, the way you were planning... Tactically, it was good, but it was not the plan of a man who truly believed that we would ever abandon one of our own."

James Proudstar stares at him, as if this simple statement revealed things that he had never considered.

Page 34-35 (Nightcrawler and Phoenix)

It's the afternoon of that day. Professor Xavier, with Rachel Summers and two wayward Hellions at his side, is in downtown Salem Center. They're occupying a table inside the ice cream/chocolate shop as the winter weather prevents them from taking advantage of the outdoor seating for an extended period.

[BR: I am assuming Kurt is present but it's up to you as to whether he's in public or hiding. The Prof is doing this outside the manor to avoid the risk of Emma picking up on a stray thought from Doug or someone else concerning the tap the X-Men have inside the Hellfire club's communications. Phoenix is there to bolster Xavier's currently shaky powers to maintain his hard won aura of telepathic omnipotence.] It's an unsurprising scene, one that would not raise eyebrows in the affluent New York suburb. Kurt toys half-heartedly with a large hot chocolate, nervously checking the street outside the windows every few seconds.

A sleek black car pulls up in front of the shop, large enough to accommodate several people, and Emma Frost steps out in her traditional monochromatic attire. The shop door gives a happy little jingle as she enters, but it is belied by the look on her face when she sees Haroun and James.

"Yup," James whispers with false bravado, "we're hosed."

Rachel, is there any sign of outside threats? Xavier sends her while he focuses his attention on Ms. Frost.

Looks clear Rachel responds.

"Charles," the White Queen says, "Emma," Xavier responds in kind. "I don't think you've met our new student," Frost jerks back a little when she sees Rachel's face in profile, with something like fear on her face, until Xavier finishes the introduction. "Rachel Summers, Emma Frost."

Rachel smiles. "I'm sorry for the shock; you're not the first to make that mistake."

"The resemblance is...striking," Emma says, having recovered herself. "You'd be surprised how deep that goes," Kurt adds with a mischievous grin.

Emma turns to the boys, "James, Haroun, I see that you're unmarred by your misadventure?" She obviously doesn't consider the bandages around James' knuckles to be worth commenting on.

"Yes Ma'am" the boys say in contrite unison.

"Why don't you occupy yourself for a few moments while the Professor and I...chat." She says.

"Kurt," she says with an overfamiliar grin, "Can you keep an eye on them for a few moments?"

"But of course, Emma." He sketches a bow and gestures to the boys to vacate their seats. "C'mon, we can sit up at the counter and pretend we're modelling for Edward Hopper."

He waits for the boys to move then follows them over to the counter and chooses a stool to perch on. "Either of you fancy a sundae? I'm buying." Could the last treat they get in a long while, he thinks to himself.

The boys head over the counter - neither appears terribly eager, but they're aware that this is something of a time killer for them and the gesture is appreciated. After a few moments Haroun asks, "Um, can I ask you something? Were you born like that or did it happen when your powers...yaknow...?"

Kurt smiles. "I am one of those rare mutants who's mutation was evident from birth. The stunning good looks, sauve charm and modesty all came later."

James snorts at that, a mannerism so much like his brother that it's uncanny.

"I count myself lucky in some ways. I've never known anything different. This," Kurt gestures at himself, wiggling his obviously three-fingered hands, "is how God intended me to be from my humble beginnings."

"Others I know were not so lucky. The sudden manifestation of a young mutant's powers can be... traumatic."

Haroun nods, taking a moment to look at his (now known to be artificial) hand before going on. "Your family, they were comfortable with you?"

The boy is trying to be casual but he's clearly in earnest, and Kurt gets the sense that there's something he's angling towards that he can't publicly articulate. "Ach, family, that is a difficult subject. I was abandoned by my mother and raised by Margali Szardos. To me, she is my mother. She raised me in the circus that was her home as one of her children and I was happy."

Haroun nods a little at this, but it's clear Kurt's still not hitting on what's troubling the lad. He gives James a look and the larger boy take the hint and finds something interesting to look at a few paces away.

"It's just... with this," he holds up his hand and fingers the artificial skin, "along with the... I worry about _starting_ a family, I guess. De la Rocha offered once to give me any girl on campus but I've no interest in anything that crude. I was wondering if you..." Kurt has the distinct sense that the boy would blush if his skin would allow it.

Kurt's face breaks into an understanding grin. "Haroun, there is no comprehending a woman's heart, but God made you a man in here," he gestures to his chest, "and in here," gesturing to his head. "Someone who truly loves you will see that man, not the shell."

"And if it takes a little while to find such a person, there is fun to be had in the search too." Kurt raises a knowing eyebrow and winks.

Hassan looks unimpressed, "Yeah, everyone _says_ that. But has it ever _happened_?"

Kurt reaches out his wallet and produces a picture of Amanda Sefton

(MC: Jimaine Szardos, IIRC, which casts a peculiar shadow on that relationship). "At least once," Kurt murmurs, while trying not to look smug.

Haroun takes a look at the phone and utter as low whistle. At a glance Kurt can see the boys prospects for his future are significantly improved.

Across the room Emma slides into the chair across from Xavier, crossing her legs, "You realize, of course, that this was not an authorized escapade."

Xavier smiles, "You and I have an agreement concerning the undergraduates, Emma. I know you wouldn't violate it. "

Rachel can see Emma bristle a bit at that, but Xavier presses on, "After seeing how you dealt with Mr. Leland I'm tempted to do so, but..."

Emma gives him a thin smile, "You set the current terms of the conflict, Xavier. And You had no problem handing Pierce over to our tender mercies when it suited you."

Xavier nods, acknowledging the hit. He then says "I feel it's important you know that these young men were not acting entirely under their own impulses of late."

Emma nods, accepting the change in topic. Rachel can feel her reach out to telepathically touch the boys with the same scan she had made herself earlier. "I had gathered as much," Frost says. "I assure you the situation will be dealt with."

"One hopes the resolution will be non-violent?" Xavier asks.

Emma laughs, "Oh Charles. They're schoolboys - I expect there shall be some violence involved. But I won't allow anything permanent. De la Rocha has considerable potential to do good, assuming he learns to control his temper. I expect that's you've had a student or two like that in your institute."

Having a paraphrase of his own words about Wolverine casually tossed back at him, with the reminder of the hellfire Club's previous violation of the X-Men's systems, clearly irritates him. "Of all of your students it is he that most concerns me. Let me know if you need any... assistance."

"I think I've learned the need to put a tighter rein on his activities," she assures him. "We shan't see a repeat of this week's events."

Emma takes a sip of her tea and peers at Rachel over the rim of the cup. Her face is inscrutable but her eyes are burning with curiosity. Rachel doesn't feel any attempt at telepathic probing, and even as good as Emma is reputed to be Rachel is sure she'd sense something if the White Queen tried it.

"How long have you been with the school, Miss Summers?"

Rachel takes a sip of her own before answering. "Not long, but it feels far longer. I'd been there before, but...I only first started studying at Xavier's school in the fall. I had other teachers before him, of course." She looks at Xavier fondly, wondering whether he would prefer that she reveal her strange history to this uneasy enemy--or keep it as hidden as it can be. I'd leave it at that, child, Xavier sends her. let her wonder.

Emma's smile thins a little at the implied date, doubtless connecting it to a very public lightshow in downtown Manhattan. Clearly the possible implications of her remarks - of having been there before, of having other teachers - might strike different chords with someone who had once plotted to 'educate' Rachel's mother into the Hellfire Club. "I'm glad you found such a welcoming place, and that you find the schools philosophical framework to your liking," She says at last.

"It isn't," Rachel says, "entirely about what philosophy I like. It's also about which one lets me and mine survive."

"Hmmmmm...." Emma responds, but doesn't pursue the conversation.

"And how is Miss Coy Manh," Xavier presses at the sudden opening. "Settling in well to the organization?"

"I'm afraid we haven't been in touch," Emma says, "Coy Mahn has been dealing with the ramifications of his uncle's recent federal incarceration. Of course we all wish him well but he should end solidly in control of his affairs, with all his family problems locked away."

"We'll see about that," Xavier smiles back. "Family can be persistent."

page 36 (Rogue)

After people have left for their various appointments Wolverine and Rogue are outside the mansion, walking in the snow, staying on alert for a quick flight into town if there’s a metal call for help.

“I hate to admit it,” Logan tells her, “But maybe Charlie was right about letting old Emma spill the beans.”

Rogue: "Ah Wolvie. I dunno. I don't think there was a win there for us...."

Logan shrugs, but lets her keep talking.

"But... I really feel for those kids Logan. Maybe Mz Frost really has a bond with them. Maybe not. She sure as heck manipulates them though.... But they've gotta feel like family to each other. And they're gonna have to be real lucky to survive when that family lets them down.... When that happened to me and my family I came to the Professor because he didn't lie to me. When I stopped trusting the Brotherhood I saw a lot of their enemies in a whole new light. Maybe we planted a seed today our just cut a stick for our own backs but we didn't lie to them or manipulate them and I think that's what makes the X-Men the good guys."

Logan waits a few minutes to make sure she's done. "Knowing Charlie he would have found a way to make sure they knew even if Frost wasn't up front with them. This keeps our hands and consciences cleaner, though, and that ain't nothin'. Sometimes those are the onlywins you get."

The pair crunch through the snow for a little while longer, then Logan says "Now that you're up and around we gotta clear your name with SHIELD. You know that, right?"

"That'd be good! I've had more'n enough of being missiled. Trick is gonna be clearing my name when it was actually me who did all that stuff."

Logan snorts, "I think Fury couldn't give a damn about your time with the Brotherhood. A man willing to keep an ex-Soviet spy on his regular roster ain't known for bein' fussy. He'll probably even clear you for kicking in the Helicarrier's doors if it turns out you were right about Rossi's life bein' on the line because of a SHIELD mole. No, Fury wants to know who shot his man. Since you didn't do that, I 'spect we can clean it up."

"Fury needs to clean up more than that. If Shaw had one mole he probably has more. If it hadn't been Mike who was in danger ... Well, Ms Marvel wouldn't leave him to die ... not even now."

Logan smiles, "I told him that after we stopped punching each other. He needs to rule you out first. Apparently I ain't enough of a character witness. Go figure."

Further crunching.

[SM:I do like snow]

Rogue: "A Soviet Spy?! Really!? That's so cool!"

Page 37 (Ariel)

After Xavier has taken the Hellions into town Kitty finds herself alone in the library with Doug.

“That,” Doug says, eyeing the bandage on the side of her head “is one nasty bruise you got there Quixote. How is it that those two yahoos were able to do more damage to you than the Super-Skrull did?”

Kitty sits at the room's table, folding her arms on it. "The Super-Skrull wasn't expecting me," she says simply. "And I had the real fighters keeping him busy."

She sighs and rubs at a pencil mark on the table. "I shouldn't have gotten so angry," she says. "But we're not going to get anywhere convincing people not to assume mutants are evil with guys like that making things worse on purpose!"

Doug fakes cracking his knuckles, "Well, if we're going to make the world like us we're going to have to get working!" he pauses for a second, "Where do we start?"

She smiles. "By talking to people who've got people who know something about public relations - the Fantastic Four and the Defenders. And getting them on board with a more general anti- anti-mutant campaign, or whatever we're going to call it.

"And trying to interest a major journalist or a documentary film-maker in the project." She sobers. "I think people should get to know some of us as just people - people who grew up thinking they were normal, until all of a sudden they weren't. That's how it was for *me.*

"And ... see if maybe Peter can talk a few of the Morlocks into being part of that."

[KK: I think that Scarlet girl would be a good candidate for the latter, in addition to Kitty herself. And I nominate the real-life Bill Moyers for the position of sympathetic prominent journalist. He was with CBS on the evening newscast until 1986.]

Doug says, "OK, first off, scary. Putting yourself or someone else out there like that could be a big risk, especially for your family. Second thing, nice as it is to have the FF and Defenders on board we'd also need our own PR firm. Maybe we use the same one they do, but we need a professional clearing house. Third thing, maybe Wan.. Scarlet Witch might be willing to help?"

"I think she will," Kitty agrees. "And yes, we should have our own firm. - I wonder how much they cost?"

"I did some research, and they good ones aren't cheap, but," he looks around the manor, "I don't think they're out of our budget, either."

Kitty goes on, "And ... I wasn't thinking about revealing identities. I think. It's just that ... Rachel's future scares me. I want people to really think about how any day, it could be their daughter or nephew or grand-child who wakes up and find they're a mutant. That it can happen to anyone."

Doug nods, "Yeah, I get that part. So are we placing the call?"

Placing the call through on the ubiquitous but easier for communication in a visual medium video phones of superhuman bases Kitty connects through to Warren Worthington's Colorado estate, which serves as the Defender's base. Beast answers the phone.

"Good morning my gracious and gregarious fellows; and to what do we owe the pleasure of this call?" he says with a happy lilt in his voice and a smile on his blue-furred visage.

Kitty can't help but smile back. "Hello, Dr. McCoy," she begins.

"Call me Hank," he insists.

"This is a business call, actually, but at least it's not an emergency," Kitty goes on. "The X-Men are looking into improving our public relations, so I'm looking for advice and references." She adds a little bashfully, "I've been pushing the idea, so I've got the job."

"Woof. That ought to teach you not to raise your hand in class," he says smiling. "Now then... The Avengers get all of their Public Relations through the Maria Stark foundation, and I'm not sure who handles it. When warren was running the Champions he signed on with a firm that had offices in LA and New York and we re-upped with them for the Defenders, just to prevent any real bad press."

He scratches his head with his toe, trying to remember. "Von der Donk. That was the fellow."

He looks a little worried, "I know you've been pushing yourselves as much as we have since the new year, but the X-Men as a pure mutant group, well, your PR might be better outsourced to Sisyphus."

"I hear he's busy with a big rock," Kitty deadpans, "so we'll have to settle for someone who likes a challenge."

"He'll have to," Hank tells her. "You want to make Mutants more accepted, well, we've been doing good work on that the last couple weeks - the Defenders have been busting our butts in sunny Cali-forn-i aye on disaster relief, and I've seen plenty of video clips of you doing the same; that's just digging us out of the hole Storm and Magneto put us in."

His smile turns a little rueful "The cold hard fact is that any PR campaign in the states is going to have to feature mutants with a few criteria - they have to have unstained reputations. They have to interview well over and over and over. They have to be beautiful ...and they can't be a minority in any other way." His blue furred face gets a more honest grin "Now I fit all of those criteria, but I'm busy for the next forever. But if you're going to do this, you have to accept that walking in."

"That sure limits the options for who has to do the talking," Kitty says a bit glumly. "But thanks for the advice."

"Are you going public ID On this? Warren announced years ago, and he does fit the other criteria. You want me to tap him to call you? You might also want to reach out to Alison Blaire*..."

[*ED: AKA Dazzler, for those not in the know.]

"She's a mutant?!?!" Doug exclaims. "I have her record!"

Kitty gives him an amused smile, then responds to Hank. "We haven't made any decisions past 'do something,'" she says. "But more information is always a good idea, so talking to Warren would be great, thank you."

page 38 (Colossus)

Peter switches to his metal form once he's safely out of sight of any surface dwellers, not sure who's going to meet him this time, but ready to work and trying to brace himself for a tongue lashing from Callisto.

No one greets him, and he makes it all the way into the tunnels before he sees someone who acknowledges him. "Hey Colossus," Scarlet says, "How're things streetside?"

"They're... stable, for now," says Colossus. "How's the tunnel?"

"They cleared and braced it...eventually," she says, taking him by the arm and walking with him towards the Alley, her bright red skin reflecting on his metal form. "Repairs are about halfway complete I think. We still have some places to shore up but nothing's blocked any more. And I think there's some leakage in the North Forty that needs to get sealed. But I'm just curious when we'll get some of those tomatoes we're supposed to be growing...."

“A few months,” Colossus tells her, and she pouts a little.

Several of the Morlocks wave to him as they enter the Alley, and one, a woman with a face marred by a (hopefully benign) tumor, comes up to him, "Me and me boys still got a lot of debris in or room - when is that getting cleaned up?"

"Show me where it goes, and I can start moving it now," says Colossus.

The woman shrugs, "we got so much now I dunnow where we're putting it. I just want it out of me and me boy's space."

"I can find out and meet you at her rooms," Scarlet says, and prances off with a spring in her step.

The woman, who eventually introduces herself as Bebiana, leads Colossus towards her rooms to put him to work. Along the way another Morlock comes up and tosses a pebble into Colossus' head to get his attention. "Oy, what're you going to do about that stink coming off of your farmstead?"

Peter rattles off an explanation of how to minimize the stink, without breaking stride.

The Morlock hustles to keep up "Ok, great, so when are you going to do that?"

They've made it to Bebiana's rooms, where there is debris on the floor, with only one piece looking like more than a strong man could lift. Here's also three youngish men in one the traditional Morlock outfits of punk clothing and spiky hair one of who is making a half-hearted attempt at slathering a bright blue sealant on the walls while the other two watch him. The room doesn't smell great, but the work should at least keep any more dust from settling off the walls.

The Morlock complaining about the organic stench doesn't seem to mind this one as he moves into Colossus' personal space and stares up at him waiting for an answer.

"After we clear this room, assuming Callisto doesn't want me somewhere else or a surface world idiot doesn't need me to hit him," says Colossus He looks around at the others. "And, assuming neither of those things happens, what's next on the list of things you want me to do?"

We're expanding this a page as we have a 36 panel page (really small panels) with an endless series of Morlock faces asking for something on one Colossus' reaction to it on the next (often "done" or "next?" or "Not now"or "Follow me" or what have you) including one guy who keeps asking for the same thing that he could be doing himself three different times in the sequence.

The second to last panel is Callisto saying "learn to freakin' delegate."

"They're trying to take in a lot of information," says Colossus. After a moment, possibly in the last panel, he admits, "And to take advantage of me while I'm here."

"Yeeeessss," Callisto says, clearly a little amused and a little frustrated at Peters naiveté. "You've been here for 20 hours already." She turns to the rest of the line, "OK, Out! Figure it out yourselves for a bit."

She directs Peter back to her office. "I already had Plague call topside to make sure Charlie Company knew you weren't dead."

[BR: she always picks the most comforting people to pass along messages....]

"You get your man back?"

Page 39 (NORAD)

Back at NORAD mountain we see the previous mentioned command officer in a debriefing with the lieutenants who had been in the Guardsmen armor and the site security officer.

“What do you mean?” he’s asking one of the flyers.

“I mean I’m not sure, sir. I was fifty meters or so over the conflict operating on visual when the sandstorm kicked up. I saw an orange fire in there as well as blue smoke, just for a second. And then they were gone. I know that this Apocalypse fellow was there, I saw him even if there’s no record, and I know that the X-Men didn’t take any direct actions against us. I just don’t have any clear idea what did happen, or if Apocalypse did escape carrying this night-creeper character.”

“Nightcrawler,” the security officer corrects.

“Nightcrawler, then,” the lieutenant says. “I wish I could be more definitive but I can’t.”

“Thank you airman, that will be all for now. Please report to the front office room 12, we have a sketch artist on loan from the local police to get a record of this ‘Apocalypse’. Well done today,” the commander adds as they’re leaving. He then turns to the security officer. “Well?”

“There’s nothing on file anywhere on this Apocalypse character, but that doesn’t mean much. It sounds plausible,” she shrugs, and that tells you a lot about the nature of the world in which she is forced to operate. ”Tech has completed an analysis of the breached armor and the damage was done by a cutting blade of extreme sharpness as there was no residue, either metallic or energy, around the damage. They have one theory, I have a second possibility.”

“They are?”

“Tech thinks it might have been an adamantium weapon,” she flicks open her folder and there’s a photo of Wolverine. “Though Wolverine wasn’t witnessed today he is an X-Man and he does have such weapons. The other, presuming that Apocalypse is real, is that he was able to form a diamond sharp edge out of the sand as a short term effect. The suit and breach were covered in dirt, which might be the residue we would be looking for.”

“Huh,” is the commander’s response. “Go on.”

“We know security was penetrated in other ways. We found an airman unconscious in the room with the psi-jammer, and it had been rewired and shut down. When I questioned him the boy had no clear recollection of what happened, but he did have a badly bruised chin. Somebody punched him. He didn’t see who, but the room had a lingering odor. Someone dug a tunnel from a storage room into Guardsmen Locker B and set off a gas grenade; whoever did that had already penetrated deep into the base security so the lock on Guardsmen Room B shouldn’t have posed additional difficulty – so why tunnel in? Finally someone reported seeing blue and silver blur fly through a corridor during the alert; the apparition was much larger than man sized but no one got a good look.”

“Was this Apocalypse a big fellow?”

“No; skinny and boyish were the terms Lt. Corder used to describe him.”

“OK, so did the X-Men attack us or not?” The commander leans over, looking for a definitive.

The officer looks over her folder, then looks up again. “They definitely penetrated security; I’m confident that Nightcrawler is responsible for KOing the airman and shutting down the jammer. I’m not confident on anything else. That tunnel might have been Apocalypse’s earthmoving power, it might have been Colossus. The apparition might have been Ariel – who is supposed to be smaller than that – or it might have been one of Apocalypse’s allies. The armor breach might have been Wolverine, it might not. If the X-Men did attack us it was for no reason I can discern, and if they were defending us it was against no threat I can identify.”

“Dammit, I expected more from a Danvers protégé than this!” the commander yells at her.

The security officer stiffens, “You’re getting my accurate assessment. I’ve given you the one concrete fact – a member of the X-Men definitely penetrated security and interfered with equipment. I’m also giving you the context around it. Is there anything else.”

“No,” he shrugs, “Go get the sketch from the police and start a file on this Apocalypse character.”

As she leaves he mutters “Giving you the context… I know what the context bloody well is…” he picks up the phone, hits a the code for an outside line and dials a number.

“Gyrich? You were right, the X-Men did attack here. No, I don’t think they made it that far in. How soon can you get out?”

Page 40-44 (Project Wideawake, Mystique)

“I have a few things to wrap up here,” Gyrich says into the phone, “and then I’ll be out. I recommend doing a full inspection even you think you were safe. See you soon, General.”

Gyrich hangs up, then looks at the papers on his desk for a minute. “I knew it. Forge isn’t fooling anyone.”

“Stanyon,” he yells to someone outside his office.

A Wideawake agent in plain clothes leans in, “Sir?”

“Tom, load up the complete file on the South Sudan situation.”

“Yessir,” the man says, and ducks out. A few seconds later a panel slides up in Gyrich’s office revealing a video screen, and Agent Stanyon comes in.

“Things are still a little sketchy, but here’s what we have…”

[BR: the panel layout for these two pages is the series of panels we have just seen across the top of the 2 page layout, followed by a two page spread across the bottom third showing a scene of battle moving right to left, with Storm and Forte along with any number of rebel troops moving on a position, with Syrin overhead taking out a heavy weapon with her scream, Loreli and Equilibrus immobilizing a large number large number of troops and Madrox (and Madrox and Madrox) to the far left in the rear of the assault taking care of some wounded.]

“It’s clear that Storm has taken control of a group of Mutants and directed them to aid the rebels in Southern Sudan.”

“And what’s the US stance on the Sudanese government?” Gyrich asks, it clearly being a rhetorical question.

“We don’t much care for them, but we’re supporting them with arms and equipment sales to counterweight Libya.”

“MmmmHmmmm…go on.”

“This group of mutants is clearly an unexpected, destabilizing force in the conflict. Both the Sudanese military and our analysts were unprepared for this X-Factor. This has allowed Storm’s force to rapidly claim and hold several key strongpoints with minimal bloodshed. It is, however, unlikely that they will be able to expand much beyond their current holdings due to changes in the terrain demographics and further army reinforcements.”

“SHIELD analysts suspect that this is not their goal – it appears they’re looking for a stable, defensible border from which to claim autonomy. If their analysis is correct Storm is nearly there, and can be expected to claim, hold and consolidate the territory within another 72 hours.”

“And then what?” Gyrich muses. “They push for independence and become the first nation entirely dependent on Mutants for their sovereignty, with Magneto pulling their strings. Are there civilian resources we can redirect to stop them?”

Stanyon shakes his head, “Unlikely. The Fantastic Four are unavailable at this time. The Avengers are stretched thin after the Wraith war and have been asked to stay out of the situation even before we raised it to them – T’Challa of Wakanda has taken South Sudan’s side. I doubt we can overcome that without a Presidential order, and given the tenuous nature of the Sudanese commitment to American principles analysis thinks we can’t secure that.

Cut back to Gyrich, “I warned them. I warned them and no one listened. Thanks Tom, I’ll take it from here.” He picks up the phone and says “get me a secure line to Valarie Cooper.”

The next panel has the editorial box “A few hours later, at the Pentagon”

Raven Darkholm is on the phone at her desk. “That you Val. I appreciate the heads up.”

She hangs up the phone. “Blast.”

She pulls on her jacket, shoulders her bag and heads out of one of the most secure building son earth. Once outside Raven reaches into her purse and pulls out a skull shaped item that quickly shifts shape to a small, secure communicator. “Irene, it is happening. I’ll pick you up en route.”

We see a shot of her car heading out into the Virginia suburbs, and then her in a different, obviously more secure vehicle heading into a more rural area with Irene Adler beside her.

“You know she’s highly likely to get involved?” the blind woman says

“I’m counting on it,” Mystique replies. “Regardless of her current home she’s still our daughter, Irene. I expect we can convince her that this is necessary. OK, we’re out of sight. Prepare for a slight bump,”

The wheels of the van slide aside and out, taking up their position as stabilizing turbines as the SHIELD modified vehicle goes airborne. Before it has cleared the trees the cloaking device has rendered it all but invisible.

The women fly southwest, eventually landing outside a small venue offering REAL REAL REAL Women’s Wrestling. “Apple, didn’t drop far from the tree, did it,” Mystique comments as she takes the same of a middle aged man entering to take in the show.

We have a panel of a girl of moderate build facing off against a hulking brute of a woman of the classic roller derby type. The slip of a girl evades again and again, almost as if her opponent can’t lay hands on her; after a few moments of them bouncing about to the enjoyment of the small crowd the girl gets under her opponent, improbably lifts her and tosses her to the mat. The bigger woman wisely doesn’t get up.

“And the winner, the incomparable Una! Isn’t she great, ladies and gentlemen?” barks from the speakers

Una accepts the accolades and heads back ot the dressing room. Mystique is waiting for her there, blue skin and all.

“Good evening, Una,” She says, “I’m here to offer you a new life.”

“Nope. Nu-uh. Not interested,” she says, wiping off her thick stage makeup. “I got an offer on hook from Ed Garner for his new Unlimited Class, so you can’t sell me on getting me out of this place. I’m already gone.”

She tosses the smudged towel at Mystique. “And when dad decided to follow people like you he ended up choking to death in the middle of times square. I. Ain’t. Interested.”

Mystique smiles. “Una, we need to you rescue Fred Dukes. He’ll die if you don’t help.”

“Uncle Freddie?” The girl’s confident pose slips and she now looks younger than Rogue. “Uncle Freddie’s going to die?”

“Not if you come with me, tonight. In three days, if you still want, I’ll drop you back into wrestling, no questions asked.” And her smile looks very trustworthy.

Next page, we’re back at NORAD. A helicopter has just landed and Gyrich has disembarked and is walking towards the officer we saw earlier.

“Good of you to come so quickly, Henry.”

“Need to protect the investment General,” Gyrich says, “We’ve come too far to be stopped now.”

The pair get into a secure elevator and the general inserts a key into the control panel, letting them access the deepest recesses of the facility. “The review of the sensors showed no sign of Mutant activity in the modification or storage areas. Whatever they did, they didn’t get this far.”

“Excellent,” Gyrich says as the elevator doors slide open onto a catwalk above the four story storage area, where rows of Sentinels stand awaiting activation.

“We’re going to need them now more than ever,” Gyrich says. The future of humanity demands it.”