***CONTEST WINNER***
And our contest winner from XMGB #26 is: (drum roll please) A Galliano!!!Mr. Galliano answered our question "What is special about the opening scene of XMGB #26?" by saying: "The Uncanny X-Men 129 January 1980 is the issue the 1st scene [of XMGB #26] is taken from. (1st appearance of Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost)"
That's right, the 1st opening scene of XMGB #26 is what happened in the beginning of Uncanny X-Men #129, with the characters swapped around slightly. That's it! It was that easy. UXM #129 was my first X-Men comic and I loved it so much I had to pay some sort of tribute to it, and I'm glad other people can remember that far back! (Actually I brought it as a reprint but that's not important) Well done Mr. Galliano, hope you enjoy your unedited version of X-Men Gold and Blue #1!
Tom
Marvel characters belong to Marvel and are borrowed without permission. No profit made, honest. Visions characters belong to Visions. Ask before using, just so we know about it.
#28, August 1999
Visions presents the end of the end which is really the beginning in: "Each end is a new Beginning" Written by: Tom Beta Read by: Link
Mansion.
Concentrating Jean Grey Summers unleashed her deadly mutant power, choking the air out of an old suitcase. When it didn't give way she closed her eyes and with a murderous voice swore silently. She managed to force the last of air out of the defenseless suitcase and ended its freedom by closing the zipper on it. With a wicked grin, she lifted it by the handle with only one finger, a light aura of her telekinetic power surrounding it. Then she pulled it behind her as if it wasn't there and dropped it. The suitcase landed on the floor with a loud thump.
"That will be the last of our baggage, Scott," she said smiling, wiping the back of her hand across her forehead. "Thanks for your help."
"Jean, you didn't let me."
"Yes, I know. I was being sarcastic," Jean said looking down at Scott. "So how do you feel?"
"Better, I suppose. Maybe we shouldn't go."
"No, no no no," Jean said, waving her index finger before Scott's face. "You know that you don't feel any pain because I'm telepathically holding it back. We've agreed that we're going. You're in no condition to lead the X-Men and I'm exhausted. We need time off. Don't try to back out of it now," Jean finished in a strict voice.
"I suppose you're right Jean," Scott answered sighing.
"Of course I'm right, Scott," she said sitting down on the bed next to him. "The X-Men will survive, as usual. Besides we'll be just a phone call away."
snip
The mutant known as Magneto touched down gracefully on the balcony of his Savage Land citadel, swooping his magnetic aura towards himself and releasing the young man known as Maggott who accompanied him. "We have returned to Savage Land, Maggott."
"Yeah yeah tell that to my girls, Magneto. I think the flight really turned them uphill," the young Maggott answered holding onto his head.
"Will they be all right?" Magneto looked back with concern.
"Who? The girls? Yeah sure, I think it just gave them a skrink but they will be fine as soon as.... STRUESBOB!" Maggott suddenly exclaimed, looking over Magneto's shoulder at the woman who entered the room behind them. "Hey ya cherrie... I know I'm gonna like this place with you around."
"Uh, M-- Erik who is that?" Anne Marie Cortez said pointing at Maggott.
Magneto smirked and then began the introductions. "Maggott, this is Anne Marie. Anne Marie, Maggott. A person I've known for a long time."
"Pleasure to meet you, doll," Maggott said grabbing Anne Marie's hand and kissing it.
"Uh yeah, hi Maggott," Anne said pulling her hand away and looking up at Magneto.
"I should leave you two then, you must be tired after your travel."
"No wait Anne. Get the others. We're leaving," Magneto announced.
"Leaving? Where?" The surprised Anne asked looking up at Magneto with an a uncertain look on her face.
"Not quite certain yet, but first to Salem Center. Then we'll see."
"We're going to see the X-Men?" Anne asked once again surprised, not understanding his intentions. Sure, the X-Men had helped them free the rest of Acolytes (see XMGB #24-25) but Anne thought their methods of trying to bring peace and harmony between humans and mutants were weak and unsuccessful.
"Just for a while, I need to talk with them. Then we're off to somewhere else, to make a difference."
Anne's face lighted up. Magneto was still willing to make a difference his own way. "I'll get the others," She announced before turning on her heel and quickly walking out of the room.
"Others? You mean there are others like her?" Maggott asked in an acquiring voice while looking out of the door that Anne just disappeared through. He was obviously admiring her figure as she ran down the corridor.
"Don't push your luck, Japheth," Magneto warned before sitting down on to his bed. "We're going to make a difference, not make out."
Maggott looked at Magneto, rolling his eyes and sighing. Erik chuckled to himself.
snip, snip
A soft knock on the door made Senator Robert Kelly raise his head up. "Come in," he said as the door squeaked and an elderly man in a grey suit entered the room.
"Mr. Bohannan, I presume?" Kelly said getting up and extending his hand to the man. He was around the age of sixty but still looked healthy and fit. He had short grey hair and a friendly face. His figure was straight and tall.
"You presume right, Senator Kelly. Call me Frank though, or Crimson Commando if you have to," the man answered, in a loud, clear voice. He took Senator Kelly's hand shook it vigorously.
"I'm glad you could make it Frank," Senator Kelly said pointing for Crimson Commando to sit down in one of the chairs before his desk.
"So what's the rush, Senator? Do you require me for a mission of some sort?"
"The real reason I called you back from Iraq was to tell you that the government has agreed to reassemble Freedom Force. And since you were the only alive member who still had some association with the government and could be reached easily, we want you as one of the members."
"Freedom Force, eh?" Frank said rubbing his chin. "It's been a while since we've been together, the team practically fell apart after Louis died in Muir and then Martin in Iraq...." Crimson Commando's thoughts wandered as he thought of the mission where he and Avalanche were the only ones that managed to escape. Silver Sable died and Pyro and Avalanche were taken prisoner. "Why do they want to reassemble the team?"
"The government lost X-Factor and they are presumed dead. We need someone take their place. Through my association with Valerie Cooper, I knew that Freedom Force worked well together. And since there was a need for a new government team Freedom Force seemed like the obvious choice. Especially now that we live in a world without heroes, Mr. Bohannan."
"Well I'm not quite sure if you could classify us as heroes but I understand what you mean," Frank responded looking straight at Senator Kelly. "I heard about X-Factor's apparent death, and if it's true and Raven is dead, who's going to lead?"
"Mystique's disappearance.... complicates things." Senator Kelly's voice railed off for a while, hinting that he knew much more than he pretended to, but he continued on before Commando could question him about it. "But I have already thought of few people. The Black Widow was one of them. The former Avenger is known to be a great leader."
"Uh the Widow is a good leader, true. But somehow I don't think she would fit in with the team," Frank said in a uncertain voice.
"That's true, but we haven't been able to contact her, so right now she's not on the immediate list. Right now my priority is to gather all the previous members together. I hope I will have you on board, Mr. Bohannan."
"Me? Sure Senator. I had a great time serving for Freedom Force. You can count me in, but you must remember that Freedom Force worked together very closely before. If we would go on, then we would need all of the members on the team and Mystique as the leader...." Frank stopped to make sure his words were acknowledged.
"As I said, Mr. Bohannan, my priority is to gather all members. The issue of leadership will be resolved afterwards." Kelly once again used his formal tone and almost fooled Commando. He knew something about Mystique, but that was to be resolved later.
"Okay then, I can wait. So have you been able to pinpoint any other members?"
"Yes. Our sources have found Frederick Dukes traveling in a mobile circus around the country. They are recently in the Seattle area. I will be going to meet him tomorrow. Since you're here, I want you to come with me."
"Of course, Blob can be hard to reason with some times. It will definitely help if I'm there," Frank said grinning.
snip, snip, snip
Mauku-Sha sat at the table satisfied, leaning on his elbow, staring at the woman who sat before him. She was enjoying a meal, slowly eating and drinking, her red lips moving up and down. Just like him, she was naked but he appreciated the sense of power he had over her. Those women he kept in his house sure did the job of making him feel like a king.
Yet, his self confidence and power didn't come from possessing a woman and treating her like a slave. He had much more to be proud of. He had stolen an incredible amount of money from the organization known as the Hand. It was an easy job and now he was rich. Rich beyond immunization. And what made the steal even a greater triumph was that he had managed to cover his tracks so perfectly, no one would ever find out where all the money went. And even if someone did, he had already employed enough guards to stop an herd of elephants from charging in.
He leaned across the table to touch his slave when he heard a strange noise behind him. Turning around he saw a big black hole fizzing with energy in the middle of the room and out of it stepped out a leg, then another, and then a whole body of an European woman, dressed in black with long curly purple hair. "What the--" Mauku shouted surprised.
"Mauku-Sha I presume?" the woman said in an English accent.
"Yes... no...." Mauku said in a shaking voice. "Guards!!" he screamed and immediately the doors swung open and a dozen of ninjas dressed in black stormed in, wielding long swords. "Take her down!" Mauku ordered pointing at the woman.
She smirked and pulled out a long katana, pointing it in front of her. The ninja in the front swung his sword but she suddenly jumped over him, stabbing him in the back while simultaneously kicking two other ninjas in front of her in the heads, knocking them to the ground. She landed on the ground graciously as the reminder of the ninjas circled her. Once again, she smiled and closed her eyes for a brief second. The men around her suddenly grabbed their heads and screamed in pain. And like dominos, they fell one by one to floor unconscious.
Slowly she rose to her full body length and made her way towards Mauku-Sha who was shaking in fear. He already knew who this visitor was. He tried running but she pointed her sword towards his face, shaking her head. He looked at her, wide-eyed as sweat ran down his forehead. "Mauku-Sha," she began speaking again in a cold distant voice, "you have stolen from the Hand. I have been sent here to kill you."
"No... no... please... don't I'll give you anything... anything you want. I'll give you half of the money, just please don't kill me." Mauku begged the assassin, shaking and sweating.
"You can't bribe me, Mauku. Revanche is not for sale. I only serve the Hand, and the Hand says you must die." Without any further ado Revanche plunged her katana into Mauku's stomach, ripping right through his body and showing up on the other side of him, soaked with fresh blood. Mauku's lips made a strange gurgling sound as his eyes opened wide.
Revanche pulled the katana out of his body and he fell to the ground trying to cling to his life as it ran readily from him but it was useless. He looked up at the woman above him as she wiped her blade on his naked skin and then his head fell to the floor with a loud thump announcing his death. Revanche looked up to see the woman Mauku had enslaved. She was still sitting in her chair, unable to move or say anything as her master died on the ground. "Get out of here before I kill you too. And remember, no one mucks with the Hand and gets away with it." The woman got up and ran out the room as fast as she could not even bothering to take any of her clothes, too afraid to turn back.
Another black hole appeared in the air and a man stepped out of it, looking at Revanche and then at the scene around him. "Well done, my love. You have proven yourself," he said as he embraced her and then kissed her.
"Thank you master, Matuso," she said bowing before him with her hands clasped together. "I will now take on the one I hate the most. I will take on Psylocke and drive her to insanity like she did to me," Revanche said grinning evilly.
snip, snip, snip, snip
Scott was resting right now, lying on the bed silently, looking up at the ceiling through his ruby quartz glasses. Jean had finished packing and was leaving the room to call for a taxi. "I'm going to call for a cab now, Scott. Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine," was Scott's short reply. He wasn't very talkative lately and Jean figured he was tired. After all, had she not telepathically blocked his pain he wouldn't be just laying there. Hank had suggested pain killers but the three of them agreed that telepathy was a much easier way.
Jean closed the door behind her silently and headed for the library where the phone was. She was enthusiastic and joyfully at the prospect of finally taking some time off. Last time she and Scott took a vacation, they wound up in the future bringing up their son. But this time she was more optimistic about it. Some quiet time in Alaska would do just fine for her and Scott.
She entered the library and picked up the phone, dialing the number of a taxi company. After ordering a cab, she headed out of the library. Turning the corner, she walked straight into Psylocke. The ninja fell to the floor.
"Sorry Elizabeth," Jean mumbled. "I don't know where my mind was," she added putting on a pleasant smile.
The woman known as Psylocke didn't say anything as she to got to her feet. She looked up at Jean hatefully. "So you're finally leaving, huh? Great," she said as she walked past Jean.
"Hold up there, Betsy. Just what do you mean?" Jean asked grabbing her elbow and pulling her back.
Psylocke pulled her elbow away violently and stared at her with an ice cold gaze. "What it means is that I won't have to look at your stupid face anymore," Psylocke shot back, hissing with venom.
"My stupid face!" Jean shouted, clearly not pleased. "What is your problem with me, Psylocke? We used to be teammates but now you hate me for something I have no idea about," Jean said only inches away from Betsy's face, clearly not hiding her anger either.
"You're asking me what my problem is?! You're the one that humiliated me in front of the whole team and ran me into the ground like a second rate telepath. Well I have news for you, Mrs. Perfect. I'm as powerful as you and now that you're leaving I'll show everyone what I'm made of." Psylocke's voice was still bitter and furious, very much unlike Jean's calm and soothing voice when she responded.
"So this is what it's all about. Look Betsy," Jean said as rubbed her forehead. "It's not like that. I'm not trying to be better than you. I just try to do my duty like all of the other X-Men. I certainly never doubted your skills or ability. You are a vital member of the team even if you don't know it yourself. It's all nonsense if you believe I'm trying to humiliate you."
"Nonsense? When there's a need for a telepath, who does everyone look to? You. It's always been you, you and you. Jean this. Jean that. Do you realize how it made me feel? No wonder I turned to Scott. I wanted to ruin your perfect world," Betsy said with a evil smirk on her face.
Jean smiled awkwardly. She did not like where the conversation was heading. "Look, Betsy..." she started off hesitantly. "I did not mean for things to get like that. I suppose you're slightly right and it did get out of hand. But I've never intended to be better than you or be judged better than you. I suppose the X-Men have a better time adjusting to someone who they've known since the beginning as opposed to someone younger. But all things considered, I'm sorry and if this means anything then I know that you're up to the job."
Psylocke looked at her stunned. She didn't expect this kind of a reaction from Jean and now felt stupid and childish for her little outburst. She had expected her to be vicious about it but of course Jean had to be the mature one again. Betsy could only hate herself. "It means a lot, Jean," she said. "I'm sorry for being so angry. I guess I just felt unneeded." She stared at her feet in embarrassment.
"Don't worry you'll do fine," Jean said suddenly pulling her into a embrace. "I'm sure of it."
Betsy looked at her wide eyed before slowly returning the embrace. "Thanks Jean...." was all she could mumbled out.
snip, snip, snip, snip, snip
Charles Xavier, taking a deep breath stared into the TV before him, scratching his chin as he did so. The news report ended and the credits were rolling by. He telekinetically stood up and "walked" towards his desk. Cable had not only restored his telepathic powers, (see XMGB #12) he had also broke the very thin line between telepathy and telekinesis, giving Charles the ability to use both of these powers. Since then Xavier had used his newly gained power to surround his body in a invisible aura of telekinesis, therefore allowing him to hover slightly above the ground. It looked like he was walking and he found it much more convenient.
His control over it came with time and right now he hardly devoted any thought to it and was able to be doing something completely different at the same time. Which he was now. The news report he had just watched was on the newly founded Reach Out Campaign started by the government which was supposed to help the mutant and human relations. This was exactly what Xavier's dream was and he couldn't believe it that the government had finally given up on it's policy of discrimination of mutants and was actually doing something to help. Naturally Charles wanted to do something to help but that was going to be a tough cookie to bite since he was believed dead after Operation Zero Tolerance. He had few ideas about what he was going to do about it but that involved breaking the law in more than one way. He still wasn't sure about it. A soft knock on the door brought him back to reality.
"Come in," he said sitting behind his desk, relaxing the telekinetic aura around his body.
The door swung open and a large African American stepped, in closing the door behind himself. "Ahh Bishop I suppose you've made a decision," Charles said pleased. Bishop was an XSE officer from future who arrived in this time to stop a madman criminal who escaped from his time. After he prevented Fitzroy's scheme, Bishop joined the X-Men, his childhood idols. He was a very skilled leader and an officer in the Xavier Security Enforcers in his time so when Cyclops, the leader of X-Men decided to leave due to an injury (XMGB #25) Bishop was the obvious choice as leader. Bishop himself wasn't so sure about the decision however. He had requested time to think about it and in the meantime lead the team against Battery and later Graviton (see last month's XMGB #27).
"Yes I have Professor," Bishop said calmly sitting down opposite Xavier. "But I'm afraid it's not the one you're expecting."
Charles looked at him slightly afraid. "What is your decision then Bishop?"
"I'm not going to lead X-Men." Bishop's words rang against Xavier's ears like painful shards of glass. Suddenly he felt like all of his plans and dreams were collapsing. Had Bishop lead the X-Men then he himself could concentrate on the New Mutants and the school. "I'm just not up to it," Bishop continued in a steady normal voice. "I have not been a leader for too long and I have become incompetent. I don't want to put lives of the X-Men and innocents on the line. We almost lost Joseph because of my negligence. And still, that isn't my only problem. Fitzroy is still around and I haven't dealt with him properly. The main reason I came to this timeline was to apprehend that madman and I am far from success. For all we know, he could be planning against us right now. That, plus I still haven't dealt with my sister, Shard who's with X-Factor right now. We have many matters to discuss and I need to see her. I'm sorry Professor but I'm just not up to it." He sighed. "Maybe Hank, I understand he has been a leader before."
"Well this definitely complicates things," Xavier said leading back in his chair. Just as he opened his mouth to speak again the door to his study opened and Bobby Drake, a.k.a. Iceman popped his head in. "Hey guys, you might wanna come outside. Jean and Scott are about to leave."
Charles looked at the door and then at Bishop. "We will continue this conversation later Bishop. Now it's time to see Jean and Scott off," he said getting up.
"I'm afraid my decision stands firm, Professor," Bishop said walking behind Xavier out of the study.
Charles sighed. Suddenly everything seemed so hard.
snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip
"Now Bobby and Hank, remember you're the only originals left on the team. You better act your age, and I mean you especially, Bobby," Jean said looking up towards Bobby and pointing at him.
"Who? Me? How could you even say something like that, Jean? You know I'm the most responsible X-Man alive!" Bobby asked faking his astonishment.
Jean chuckled to herself before continuing. "So you better behave and do your duty. As the original X-Men, I expect you to give the rest a good example."
"Ay ay ma'am!" Bobby said straightening and saluting like a military man.
"You do not have to worry about such things, Mrs. Summers," Beast said in reassuring voice. "My companion, Robert and I will make sure that our homage of the original X-Men is held up in best shape possible. I have already arranged for yours truly and Robert to polish our statue every day."
Jean chuckled patting Beast on the back. "Thanks Hank."
She moved on to Charles and looked him in the eye. "Good luck with New Mutants, Charles, and the school. If you need anything, just call, we'll always be there," Jean said with a slight tear in her eye before embracing Xavier.
"Thank you, Jean," he said returning the embrace. "Good luck to you too and take care."
Jean moved away from him and slowly walked towards the cab waving to the rest of X-Men. They waved back and she entered the cab and sat next to Scott. "Are we goin' now Miss?" the driver asked.
"Yes... let's go," Jean said closing the door. She looked back as X-Men stood there on the porch, waving to her and as they slowly grew smaller and smaller. She turned back and wiped a single tear from her eye. Scott was asleep and the driver kept to himself. They had left the X-Men.
The X-Men stood and watched as the cab disappeared in the cloud of dust, out the gate and out of the property. They hadn't realized just how a big part of the team was now missing. Everyone suddenly felt empty and alone. A booming voice above them brought them back to the harsh reality.
"Farewells are hard, aren't they X-Men?" Everyone looked up simultaneously to see Magneto hovering above them with the Acolytes and a young man behind him.
"Joseph!" Rogue shouted.
"Magneto!" Gambit shouted charging up a pair of cards out of nowhere. The rest of the X-Men were powering up already and preparing for the worst.
"No need to be afraid, X-Men. I've come in peace today and as a friend. Even though my memories have returned, I still remember our time together fondly. I know it wasn't the easiest decision you've ever made, but you were willing put aside our differences to help me. For that I thank you," Magneto said lowering himself and the Acolytes to the ground.
The X-Men depowered and looked at him. "You're welcome, Joseph," Psylocke said.
"Please call me Magneto," he said. "I see Charles amongst you. So you've woken up from the coma, old friend?"
"Yes Erik," Xavier answered walking towards Magneto. He extended his hand to out Magneto. The Master of Magnetism hesitated for a while but then extended his arm as well and shook Charles's hand. "And since you're here and you're back to your former self, I need to talk to you about some important matters. Would your Acolytes mind waiting for few hours?"
Magneto turned back to them questionably. "Yes, I suppose we can. A few hours won't hurt us," Delgado, the leader of the group said.
"Good then. My X-Men, if you would please escort the Acolytes to the living room. I have much to discuss with Magnus," Xavier said pointing towards the mansion.
snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip
"So, Erik where are you heading now that you're all back to normal?" Charles asked pouring him some tea as Erik sat down on the couch.
"I'm still not sure, Charles. I hid Maelstrom's tech so Fenris won't get their hands on it and I decided to do something. I'm not sure what though. I want to make some sort of a difference in a more peaceful way, use the Acolytes as some sort of a team for helping mutants. Either way, taking over the world is out of the question."
The two men laughed nervously. There was a mutual agreement between them and they decided to not bring up all the bad blood between them since Magneto turned to the dark side again (Marvel's X-Men vol.2 #1-3) and more importantly since Charles shut down Magneto's mind (Marvel's X-Men #25) There was still an air of uneasy tension between them, especially when they mentioned such events or issues of world domination, or issues of peaceful coexistence.
"I think I learned my lesson... that time... when I unleashed the EM wave on earth and tore out Logan's adamantium. I was a madman. I suppose some excuse for that was the time I spent animated in chrome after Asteroid M fell. That and the healing Cortez gave me made me really strange, like I would have no control over myself. I was very short-tempered... but.…" Magneto stopped for a while sighing. It was hard saying this. He wasn't quite sure why he was saying it in the first place, and especially to the man that mind wiped him but for some reason he trusted Charles. His time as Joseph allowed him to better understand a few concepts of human nature. Some of which he couldn't grasp before. "But I still take the blame for it... it was me going crazy but still... I'm trying a slightly more peaceful way now."
"We all make mistakes, Erik. The trick is to learn from them and make sure we don't repeat them. What happened though? After the incident on Avalon, you were a destroyed man." Charles stopped for a while looking at the floor embarrassed. "I heard you found out what de-aged you and restored your mind."
"Yes, that's true. After Holocaust attacked Avalon (Marvel's X-Men #42-44) and Colossus took me down to Earth in an escape vessel. We got separated and I somehow ended up in South America. Someone, I can't quite recall, pulled me out the vessel and dragged me to one of my old bases nearby."
"Talk about luck."
"There I was cured by that person, a woman, with the Maelstrom technology. It cured my mind and my body of the injuries I received upon landing on earth and for some reason de-aged me. The technology hadn't been working very well when I left it there and I suppose it must have been an mistake. I then escaped from that base while I was still in shock and I was found by Sister Maria. And then I found you. Later, when I went to Savage Land with the X-Men, Fenris restored my memory in order to find where the Maelstrom technology was hidden. All of my memories returned and I managed to stop Fenris before they killed me (all in our XMGB #25). The fled before I had a chance to stop them. Then I hid the Maelstrom Tech and decided to do something for mutants while there still was a chance. I stopped along they way to thank the X-Men for taking me in when I was in need. I understand that not everyone would take in an old enemy. For that I'm very grateful. How about you, Charles? I see that you are walking again. How is it so?"
Xavier took a deep sip of his tea before explaining. "When Cable restored my powers he broke the mutational membrane between telepathy and telekinesis, allowing me to access both powers. I barely use telekinesis to hover above the ground."
"I see then that your theory was true. I must say, I doubted that a telepath could also be a telekinetic but I suppose you've proven me wrong. So how is the school now? What are your plans?" Magneto asked thoughtfully.
"Well for starters, I've decided to reunite the New Mutants," Charles said as casually as he could.
"The New Mutants? You mean X-Force?" Magneto asked clearly surprised.
"No. A brand new group. I managed to hide six files from Bastion before the whole database was destroyed. They were were supposed to join the Gen. X team, but since I decided to reopen the school, they would do better here. Who knows how much information Bastion downloaded before we were freed. They could be in serious danger."
"What about the X-Men?"
"Well the X-Men are a bit more of a problem. The team currently doesn't have a leader since both Storm and Cyclops left and Bishop, who was assigned to take their place has just informed me that he isn't up to the task so we need to find someone to lead. I was thinking of Hank, but I need him with the New Mutants. And what I wanted from the X-Men was to be more of a strike team, upholding the image of mutants in the world by filling in the hole left after the death of the Heroes. You know, doing the larger stuff while the young generation of New Mutants and Gen. X can be more down to earth, learning how to live among humans, upholding the dream, and being as proactive as possible. More open than we have been before. I'm not sure if you've heard of Reach Out but it's a campaign started by the government in order to ease the human-mutant relations. The X-Men is going to widely support that. We need to show people we're not bad, we need to be out there, so they can interact with us and see for themselves that we're not what they think we are."
"I understand and I agree to some extent. I'll be aiming for something similar with the Acolytes. Humanity is very cynical and hypocritical. Unless we show them that they're wrong and we show them that we're not monsters, they're not going to understand. I don't know..." Magneto said sighing. "I feel like I need to do something, and fast before it's too late. I know some of my methods must change if we are to survive. Very much like you, Charles, it seems the both of us have changed our direction."
Suddenly Charles froze. A thought raced through his mind. "Magneto, you're going to lead the X-Men."
Magneto almost choked on his tea that he was sipping and he had to put it aside so he could get a word out of his mouth. "Me, Charles? Haven't you learned from your mistakes?"
"It's perfect Erik....We both agree on how the X-Men should be run, on what the human-mutant relations. You're looking for something to do, I'm looking for a leader.... You're the obvious answer, my friend!" Xavier said excitedly.
"What about Acolytes?? I've promised to take care of them.…" Magneto said unsure.
"They can join the X-Men if they want, if not the school is reopening soon and they can get an education if they wanted to. Just think about it, Erik, think about the opportunities. The X-Men know where they're heading. They just need someone to lead them there."
"I... I don't know, Charles. I tried this last time and look what happened. What if I fail again?"
"This time I'll be here to make sure you stay on track, Erik."
"Who's currently on the team?"
"Bishop, Rogue, Gambit, Beast, Iceman and Psylocke."
"Hmmm," Magneto said scratching his chin. "You understand, Charles that if I take over I'm going to lead the team my way, the way I feel should be done. No more 'I'll do it your way'. If I am to take over X-Men then it's going to be on my terms, and if I'm willing to try a different approach then it's my business."
"Of course. I wouldn't interfere in anything, as long...." Charles stopped, pointing his index finger at Magneto. "As long as you don't slip down. Remember Magneto, we're doing this for mutant kind, being proactive isn't going to be easy but as long as you do what you did with the New Mutants then I trust your judgment."
As much as he didn't want to admit it, Magneto was starting to like the idea. Leading the X-Men would be a good change of pace and he was sure the Acolytes would fit in well. If not the younger ones could still get an education and make something of their lives. He didn't have any sworn enemies on the team so he would be able to try a different approach with them. Maybe this was what mutant kind needed. A good, fast strike team to take care of the larger threats while the younger generation built the smaller but just as important bridges with the humans. Maybe for one of the first times in his life, he was agreeing with Charles. His time as Joseph had done him well.
"Okay Charles, I'll take the job. You have to remember that everything's on my rules and conditions. You're going to have to trust me."
"And trust you, I do."
snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip, snip
The lounge was filled with a slightly uneasy atmosphere as the Acolytes and the X-Men sat together, not really sure what to say to each other. At one time they were sworn enemies, but the X-Men worked together with one of them, Anne Marie Cortez when they freed the rest of the Acolytes from Fenris. Still, both teams felt uneasy about each other and they waited patiently, watching the TV, waiting for their leaders to come out so that they may go their separate ways.
The doors of the study swung open and the two men walked out, their faces beaming.
"Good, we're going," Chrome said getting up from the couch.
"Ah, Jeremy, we're going to be staying here for a while longer. Charles and I had a long talk about mutants, our dreams, the past and the X-Men and we came to a conclusion about what's best for mutants and humans."
"Yes, that's right. Since the X-Men need a leader, we decided that Magneto is going to lead the X-Men."
"WHAT??!!!!"
End?
NEXT ISSUE:
"You made Magneto what?!!"
Yup, you heard it properly. Magneto is the new leader of the X-Men... hehe. Betcha you didn't see that one coming?! This is the major plan for Magneto I had been talking about for months So what do the X-Men think about it? Judging from the title, they're not so pleased, but Magneto has made it a priority to find out just what each individual thinks about it and the answers may not assure him like he hopes they will. That plus Bishop takes a leave of absence to meet his sister! Senator Kelly is a busy man in this issue as he not only finds Blob and his mysterious companion and asks him to join Freedom Force, but he also has a long talk with Xavier... But wait, isn't Charles believed dead? This one confused us too, so be there to read it and not believe it. And which of the Acolytes are going to join the X-Men? Hmmm we wonder. Plus, Lukin, Cyclops and Phoenix and return of a character that everyone probably forgot about! (Well, not unless they're planning to read Marvel's New Warriors series.) Year 3 is finally here, baby!
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