Issue 2

 

cover: storm betsy and kurt in the middle of an anti mutant rally

 

 

Storm, nightcrawler and kwannon are at the crime scene with officer charlote jones. Storm is visibly in discomfort for being unofficially dragged into a crime site. Charlotte asks the xmen to trust her and says she trust no one better than them to deal with such situation.

 

Kwannon concludes a mind scan and tells there’s no trace of anyone in the building but them.

 

Storm says there’s no consistent lead in the site and requires all available surveillance footage and genetic samples from the victims to cross check with their remaining genetic database.

 

Kurt asks how long until the situation would get public? charlotte says that the mayor should be arriving in his office within an hour, so the situation is about to explode. Storm tells kurt to teleport them out of the crime scene and asks charlotte to stay in touch.

 

Meanwhile, Psylocke is piloting the x jet with domino. Domino is not happy as she didn’t get assigned to a major x team. Betsy says it’s better this way considering that a mercenary with a pair of guns is technically not the best fit for the x-men now they are in the public eye. Domino calls betsy on her own hypocrisy telling that they have magneto, kwannon and even betsy herself in their squad. how could it be any better for their reputation than guns.

 

Betsy asks Neena to take it easy on her, and that she has been working to approve something equally great for domino. They land on arizona, precisely in a rebuilt cavern X. Betsy says the if she will be in charge of the x-men defense strategy and she will need heavy backup. The x-men want domino to lead the x-force and operates from their secret headquarters providing intel and handling secret operations. Sage is already there and greets them in the cavern entrance. Betsy tells domino that sage is joining her, but she is pretty much free to pick the remaining members of her x-force. Neena wants warpath, young cable, boom boom, frenzy and shatterstar. Betsy suggests x23 to the roster and asks neena to keep an eye on her.

 

Scott and jean are in a meeting with captain america, carol danvers and black widow of the Avengers. He wants to frame both teams activity to avoid overlap. Cap starts by framing all mutant affairs for the x-men and scott interrupts telling him that drawing such lines hasn’t help mutant reputation. If they are to be world class heroes they have to be in service of the wider population not only their own kind.

 

Cap agrees and suggest to integrate the x-men to SHIELD’s central office and have them able to keep track on on going avengers and fantastic four assignments and even to be assigned to missions by fury and hill themselves.

 

Jean is reticent, considering their recent conflict with orchis, with a large chunk of the organization formed  by former shield agents. How can they be sure mutants are really welcomed by all of their rank. Natasha in a mockery tone, asks jean if she is afraid someone would assign them to a suicide mission and states that it would be no mutant exclusivity.

 

Scott says he will meet fury himself and establish what is possible in terms of cooperation with SHIELD. In the meantime the Avengers can rely on the x-men for all kind of backup and steve informs the x-men likewise.

 

Jean receives a telepathic distress call from xavier and they leave immediately. An emergence meeting is called as storm returns and the missing of the mayor goes public.

 

Jean asks if they were able to identify any connection between the dead mutants and the mayor. Kurt says they are still waiting for the surveillance footage and beast analysis of the corpses dna.

 

Magneto wonders if this could be a sign to the governments and not to the mutantkind as they could be using terrorism to intimidate the pro mutants initiatives worldwide.

 

Xavier asks besty to track any possible retaliation in other part of the world and requires scott to reach the secretary of defense. He wants to meet him in the pentagon and asks the gold team to join him.

 

Magneto tells he will follow up on the local investigation with the rest of his team.

 

Beast stays behind to proceed with the analysis on the dead mutants DNA. He mentions that all of mr sinister’s backups were corrupted with the attacks in Krakoa and he is trying to isolate any DNA sequence that could match the remaining damaged samples.

 

As press coverage of the crime surfaces, we see street riots in district x. Humans demands the city to cease the housing program for mutants refugees as it is threatening the safety of others. Dazzler who is checking on riots with jubilee, raises her voice and yells at the crowd telling that no mutant was yet accused of the murdering and in fact 5 of their own were also killed in the same night. Whoever did that is the threat, not them. A resentful protester tells Alison she should accept society is not ready yet to live in such integration and if we push opposites to live together, acts of retaliation like this will not stop.

 

Before Alli has the chance to reply a man shouts in accordance with the other protester and attacks dazzler and jubilee from behind. Violence takes over the manifestation and district x mutants and humans fight against each other. The blue team arrives kicking some asses and magneto freezes everybody with her magnetic powers. Betsy checks on dazzler while wolverine checks on jubilee. Magneto tells everyone to leave as they and the officers have work to do. Whatever course the situation takes it will not bend to their bigotry nor their irrelevance. The humans retreat and charlotte arrives late. She greets the x-men and  takes them to a NYPD van where she shows footage security street cameras from alphabet city. They look somewhat shocked as they watch the material and recognize sabretooth and mystique in the crime scene.

 

In the pentagon, the gold team meet with the secretary and his committee.  Charles wants the pentagon and the xmen to deliver a public message in open television. He wants the us government to declare the district x incident an act of terrorism to the us nation and not only the to mutantkind. No plan will be revisited and all states currently engaged with the pro mutant agenda will remain free to proceed with their related activities and sanctions.

 

Betsy telepathically contacts the professor to put him in the loop. Charles politely leaves the room to engage in the psi link.  He gets pissed off as he learn about the mutants villains apparent involvement with the crime and violently slams the door behind him.

 

***Flashback.

 

In the middle of the attack in krakoa, mystique reaches the quiet council room were krakoa agonizes. She asks it to release sabretooth but krakoa hesitates. She tells krakoa that ninrod and the sentinels are getting the upperhand and they need all muscle they have if  they want to win. Sabretooth is released and mystique promptly escapes with him trough an almost malfunctioning krakoan portal.

 

***End of flashback

 

Warren asks the professor what is going on and charles asks him to tell the secretary to put their plan on hold. The gold team leaves the pentagon and they head back to the mansion.

 

On the blackbird bishop and colossus are talking about how xavier is sounding edgier than usual. Bishop thinks it more than just consternation and it almost feels like a frustration of plans. They are interrupted by a buzzing sound and bishop shouts telling everyone to protect themselves as the plane is torn apart by a blowing missile.

 

end of issue 2