July, Year 4

"For the Children"

By Will Short

There is a certain scent, a stench that comes with mistreatment. Not only something horrible like abusing or purposefully neglecting, but the sad state of not having enough time or ability to care for someone or something.

The smell, like that in this old warehouse, is of expired food, body odor, excrement, and the tears of children. It enters the nostrils of Bobby Drake almost as though he were sucking a solid through them.

"Good God..." he exclaims to the others and waves his hand in front of his disgusted face.

"Come on, Bobby," the Iceman's winged friend Archangel says, "I know it's....yeah, it's bad...but we knew it was going to be like this."

"Still, this is more that we were briefed for."

Mimic's green eyes are wide as she surveys the first room they have entered, and says uneasily, "I don't think you can get briefed for this..."

And most likely, one couldn't be prepared for this scene.

Children of all ages and sizes, from the smallest infant to a toddler close to speech, cover the dirtied floor of the area. The walls are brittle and frail, with holes and stains on most of their faded beige color, and the ceiling is in no better shape.

These young children are similar to the walls in state, with dirt covering either their skin or clothes, for those who are actually wearing clothing. Each child seems confused by the entrance of the new sights, the five figures that have come in the door that is rarely used.

A small group of mutants stands over the collection of children, each astonished in his or her own fashion. Iceman, the newly named Mimic, Longshot, Wolfsbane, and the leader of this break-off team, Archangel each scan the room, none speaking until Rahne finds the words escape her mouth.

"These...are all mutants?"

It takes a moment for Warren to answer.

"I...yes, they are. Nanny and Orphanmaker wouldn't kidnap anything else."

"This has to be pretty dangerous," Longshot adds, "With this many powerful kids in one place..."

"That's why we're here. We better get to looking around." Archangel says without pleasure, and the five split up to investigate the different parts of the warehouse.

There are many rooms within, at least six of which that have a fair amount of young ones within. Rahne Sinclaire, the lupine Wolfsbane, keeps from changing into her wolf-like forms as to not scare the children, but she wades through the sea of mutants to try and find one that speaks.

"Oh m' goodness..." she says softly to herself as she passes by a deeply blue-skinned infant in only an obviously soiled diaper, laying on his stomach with arms flailing wildly.

Do not forget the noise. Over the stench, there are the cries of possibly a hundred or more crying children.

The blue child's arms quickly change into slithering tentacles, and then back, and Rahne jumps for a moment.

"S' like a madhouse, 'tis." She says quietly again, and speaks louder to possibly find a child that can talk.

"Hello? Anyone understand me in 'ere?"

The constant crying of children is her only answer.

"Guess not."

But in her non-lupine form, her senses are only as acute as those of an average human. Were she as a wolf, she just might smell the strange smell through the many other countless other odors, or possibly hear the slithering and slight breathing over the crying.

In another room, Warren Worthington III makes sure to keep his metallic wings as retracted as possible, keeping them away from the kids that surround him. He looks over the few children actually walking, seeming to keep to themselves almost as a herd.

"Hey...hello? Hey there." The Archangel says, walking over and bending down to speak to these seemingly advanced toddlers. They turn and look at him, and almost immediately they scream and back up as much as possible, causing Warren to back up in surprise himself.

"What? What is it?" he asks with concern in his voice, looking over the children's wide, teary eyes. Some of them tremble while they huddle against the wall.

"I'm not here to hurt you..." he attempts to sooth them, and leans forward a little more again, "I just want to help you, and maybe you can help me. Do you understand?"

They whimper slightly, but otherwise, do not answer, and Warren becomes slightly upset.

"What are you scared of?" his voice raises slightly, "My skin? My wings?"

"Please...do you talk?" He slowly and carefully reaches his gloved hand out towards them, palm down, and they recoil to the wall even more.

Warren quickly retracts his arm and stands up, startling the children once more. "Fine. There has to be someone around here who can understand me..."

But Warren is not sure of this, walking carefully once more through the crowd of gathered children, feeling almost as sorry for himself as he does for them. He was assigned the leader of this little side group, since Cyclops needed to stay home with Jean*, but he does not feel that he's doing a very good job. He's so frightening that he cannot even get close to the children.

(*To see why, read last issue. -Will)

Archangel would most likely be less caring of his looks and situation were he not so caught up in his thoughts, and paying attention to the flesh creeping around the room.

In yet another room, Iceman works alone, with a bit more luck that the others.

"Hey buddy...yeah, go ahead and come here. I just want to talk..." Bobby says playfully to the standing toddler, who eyes him almost suspiciously, or as much so as a child would. He is clothed in a tattered shirt and shorts that hardly fit him, and his face shows some sort of disease with boils and rash marks.

"Please?" Bobby pleads, and finally the child waddles over slowly. Bobby puts his arms under the child's armpits and holds tightly under each axilla to lift without discomfort to the small boy.

Trying to ignore the smell of this new friend, Bobby holds him in one hand on his shoulder and looks the boy over.

"Looks like you have a little rash here on your face...do you have a name?"

The child just studies Bobby's face closely, and the Iceman's thoughts run quickly, wondering about the child. Suddenly, he "hears" a cry that he is used to: a telepathic message.

"Danger...Timmy...Leave."

The voice in Bobby's head is high and unsure, and he responds in kind.

"There's danger? Where?"

"Timmy...Room...Leave."

Bobby gets part of the message but he still does not quite understand.

"What room? What room is Timmy in?"

The child resting on Bobby quickly forces himself off of the X-Man's shoulder, dropping close the ground until stopping midair, and floating quickly away.

"Hey! Where're you going?"

But Bobby Drake quickly takes his eyes away from the fleeing child, looking down to the bacteria infested ground before him.

"Oh, man..."

Bobby feels the slimy caress climbing up his calf, and he is too surprised to run.

Jean and Scott Summers, Phoenix and Cyclops, are the two bookends of the X-Men. They hold nearly equal status as far as the other team members are concerned, and both have seen their fair share of action and changes over the years.

The last time they spoke to their mentor Professor Charles Xavier, they had what would be considered bad news: three longtime members of the X-Men quit, and Gambit had died in an explosion while battling the Word*.

(*Back in X-Men #80-81. -Will)

But now, when they contact the Professor, who has been busy with his campaign for governor, the couple has much better news for this father figure of theirs.

"Professor," Jean says to the bald telepath on the large screen, "Scott and I..." She can hardly find the words, simple as they may be, from excitement. Her husband jumps in for her.

"Professor, Jean is pregnant!"

Charles's face brightens, and he smiles widely at his former students.

"That's wonderful! Oh my...truly wonderful. How long have you known?" he asks them.

"Well, it's sort of a strange story...Orphanmaker and Nanny apparently broke into the mansion looking for me, and when they did, Nanny told us that I was pregnant."

Charles looks confused for a moment. "How did she know? And why did she come tell you?"

Scott speaks now. "She claims that one of her 'children' told her...Professor, Nanny said something about our child being the savior for their 'people'...and it ends up that she has a warehouse full of mutant children that she can't take care of without help."

"Have you checked into it?" Charles asks.

"We sent half the team to check it out. They left earlier today." Jean responds.

"Good...I'd like to hear more on that once it's done with."

"Will do, Professor." Cyclops says.

"Now that you have made your announcement, I believe it's in order that I make mine." Charles says, and the two are reminded that he had mentioned certain news for the team before.

"Go ahead, Professor." Cyclops encourages him.

"During my campaign, I have had much time to reflect on the relationship between mutants and humans...I tried to think of certain solutions to various problems, such as revealing our identities to the public*. But so far they seem to have little impact, if any at all."

He holds his breath for a moment, trying to word it perfectly, and during the pause Cyclops asks anxiously, "What do you propose we do then, Professor?"

(*In X-Men #77. -Will)

"The other night, while I was lying in bed trying to sleep, I began thinking of what may be the root of the problem, and finally I realized.....the government. Most government officials are almost always spreading propaganda about mutants, or just doing any and everything they can to better their public status."

Professor Xavier continues.

"But as a mutant, and a person sympathetic to the mutant race, I am taking my campaign in the opposite direction..."

"You mean...?" Jean asks, and gets a slight psychic reassurance, although her teacher is not even within the confines of the same building.

"Yes, Jean. I mean that, if I am to be elected as governor of New York, the X-Men will become government-sponsored."

"Aw...look at this one!"

Jenny Livenhill, recently named Mimic, is a standard teenage girl. Everything is "cute" in one meaning or another in her eyes. And so...

"How're you, little lady?" she says shrilly and crouches to speak to small newfound friend. The child, a girl, seems to be at least three or four years old. Her hair, while not kept, is a deep brown that most would consider nice-looking, her eyes a similar color with hints of green. The young girl's smile is not easily rivaled.

She giggles as Jenny tickles her playfully, and flashes her surprisingly pearly white teeth.

"What a pretty kid, huh, Longshot?" she asks, and the blonde Mojoworld native turns from staring at the windowless wall.

"Huh? Oh yeah...yeah, that is a pretty little girl." He says, and then looks around the room at the other children.

"Not a whole lot of them in here..." he comments, and Jenny looks over at the man of luck with hurt in her face.

"Longshot! That's not very nice...these kids can't help where they're at."

He stands, confused for a moment, and then says quickly in his defense, "Oh, oh no! Haha, Jenny...I didn't mean good-looking kids...I just meant kids period. There aren't a lot in here."

Jenny's face quickly shifts to a grin and she laughs too, "Haha...sorry 'bout that, 'Shot. I'm just a little sympathetic to these types of kids..."

He hears the hidden depths within her voice.

"Something you'd wanna talk about?" he asks, but she shakes her head.

"No...not now, anyway."

Jenny stands again, and they both stand to look around the deteriorating room, silent for the moment.

"Do you like kids?" Jenny finally breaks the silence.

"Yeah...I wasn't around them a lot for a long time but in the past year or two I've gotten to be with them more...so yeah, I like kids."

"Me too...I've always wanted kids of my own, for someday...a girl and a boy." Jenny continues on her own.

"Really...well it's a good idea to be married before you get into that sort of thing. Do you have anyone in mind?"

"Haha, what? Oh, God no! Not yet. I'm only seventeen, anyway."

"Man, you're young..."

"Yeah."

Once again, silence.

"How long have you and Alison been married?"
"Years now...at least four ."

Jenny looks surprised. "You don't know? I'd kill my husband..."

"Ha...well, she'd kill me too, but she doesn't really know either. It's hard to keep track of time sometimes on Mojoworld."

"But you've been married long enough to have kids."

"Oh, yeah...we were married before Scott and Jean were."

"Do you ever think about having kids of your own?"

"We've thought about it alright...haven't done much to really try at it, though. Besides, I don't think the X-Men are going to need another pregnant member and kid on the team, with Jean..."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

And before another silence can take control of the room, Longshot points out once again, "You see that there are less kids in here too, right?"

Jenny nods. "Seems kind of weird, though...this place doesn't seem any different than the others."

"Maybe not to you...I get sort of a feeling though, like something's near.."
"You 'get a feeling'?"

"I have clairvoyance...or some."

"Really? Some of you guys have some crazy powers..."

"Not any weirder than yours."

The two X-Men speak to each other without care and without taking notice to the slithering wetness coming towards them...

"What kind of name is 'Longshot', anyway? That's not your real name, is iiiiiIIIIIIAAAAAGH!" The screaming causes Longshot to jump, and he has no idea why until he inspects further.

"Jenny! What...oh.....woah....."

The blonde clairvoyant's sentence fades away with haste as he watches his partner's body rise into the air, held aloft by a light green tentacle. Its hues change in patches, and it seems to ripple with life as it holds her around her thin waist. Longshot does not care to see where the sudden intrusion came from, immediately jumping far back and keeping his eyes on the attack taking place before him.

"Longshot...I.....can't...help me, please!" Jenny screams, trying to free herself with bare hands against the appendage's strength. It is in vain.

"Try to copy someone's powers, Jenny...try Warren's wings!" he yells to her, but she merely screams back.

"I can't focus enough...I'm trying! Just get me out.....please, God! Longshot!"

His heart beats fast, and he watches as the tentacle tightens around her, causing her to gasp for breath. Suddenly the creature seems to shake for a moment, and soon another tentacle of similar style emerges, coming straight at Longshot. He's ready, and as his left eye glows with the power of pure luck, he dodges the tentacle's assault, albeit narrowly.

"Woah! Hold on just a minute, Jenny...I'll be there in just a second!"

Longshot reaches for his belt, and pulls three small white blades of unknown metal, holding his ground as the tentacle turns towards him as though it could see.

"C'mon, ugly...right over here." He taunts, and the tentacle strikes once again, and once more, he avoids imminent danger, this time by jumping straight up. As he does so, he throws his weapons of choice, striking the extension in three places near to each other.

Both Jenny and Longshot hear a slight squeal, and Jenny feels its grip loosen slightly. Longshot lands behind the tentacle's bend, and watches it grapple with pain on the ground.

"I think I..." he begins, but halts himself to avoid sounding stupid. The blades apparently did only slight damage, and the tentacle once again shows life as it rises slowly.

"Uh oh..." Longshot says to himself, and then looks to Jenny, who has stopped screaming and looks less discomforted.

"Jenny, are you okay?" he asks loudly, looking at her only for a moment and then back at his foe.

"I am for now, but I don't know for how long...ngghh...it looks like it's taking the hits pretty well..."
"Can you focus to use your powers?"

"Let me see..." she says, and tries to put her mind to a single task. She forgets the abomination entangling her lower body and thinks only of her other teammates...mainly one in specific.....

Longshot instinctively looks back to Jenny once more when he sees the tentacle ahead of him trash about, and hears again the painful squeal. Jenny is no longer held in the air by her former captor, but now is under her own power, or rather, Archangel's power, her metal wings flapping softly so she may hover...the wings are covered in a thick, forest green liquid.

"Looks like you took care of that." Longshot says, looking at the mutilated mass below the young flying mutant.

"Looks like it...but just to make sure....." she says, and then fires a few metal shards from her borrowed wings. They strike right through the separated links of mass, leaving more green blood in their wake.

Once Jenny lands and rids herself of the wings, she sees Longshot crouching by the downed creature, retrieving his blades from it and just staring at the length of flesh.

"Longshot? Whatcha' doing down there?" she asks, approaching him from behind.

"Hold on a minute...and if I start wigging out on you, try and do something about it, okay?"

Jenny becomes more concerned, and walks closer. "Wigging out? What're you going to do?"

Longshot places his hand on the creature's side.

"I'm going to find out what this thing is."

And his hands grip the slimy, lifeless gathering of meat tighter, freeing his mind...

Images flood Longshot's unprepared mind, and his body stiffens.

"Shot? You there?" Jenny asks, and Longshot does not answer.

Before he can delve any further, Mimic pulls Longshot off of the dead object, fearing for his health and safety. The jolt through his body forces them both to fall backwards.

Longshot recovers from his daze, and looks to Mimic as she gets up.

"You pulled me out?" he asks.

"Pulled you out of what? Your trance? I didn't know what was happening, but you didn't look too good, so I got you off of that thing. What...?" Mimic says almost angrily, but more from fear than that.

"I told you, I'm clairvoyant...I touched the thing's dead tentacle and got some information off of it."

"From a dead animal?"

"It's not a dead animal...but I don't really have time to explain that. We need to meet up with the others."

"...crazy powers....." Mimic murmurs to herself as she follows Longshot quickly through the hall to another room.

Longshot sticks his head into the room and looks around, not finding a single ally or being past childhood. "Guys? Warren? Anyone in here?"

He listens for an answer, but the children's constant output is all that he hears.

They rush down the hall again, Longshot checking one room while Mimic looks in another, yet they still fail to find any of their friends.

"Iceman...Bobby? Rahne? Where is everyone?" Mimic calls out, but her friends do not answer.

Standing in the long hall, Longshot and Mimic both lean against walls in a still, calm fear. Jenny is the only one with enough energy to speak, and very little, at that.

"Where could they have gone? I don't like this..."

Both turn towards the direction of the scream.. Looking down the long hallway, they see the only possible source, and the only unexplored crevice of the warehouse left... a simple wooden door, with a single lock on it.

Mimic looks over to Longshot, who still stares at the door not too far away, and she sees his eye glowing. He turns to her, and without humor or a smile, he speaks.

"That's where. Let's go."

She follows him to the door, stalling at first behind his steady walk, but she quickly runs to gain speed and catch up. Mimic stands close behind Longshot as he pulls out an even smaller blade, similar to the others, and luckily picks the lock with ease. It drops to the ground with a metallic clink, and he looks back at her one last time.

"Are you...?" he begins to ask, and she cuts him off, the suspense testing her patience and nerves.

"Just open the freakin' door!"

Longshot nods. The door creaks long and quietly as it opens gently under Longshot's direction, not revealing that which is behind.

In the gathering room, used for collecting the X-Men's members and assorted guests, six people are gathered.

At the apparent head of an otherwise equal and round table is Scott Summers, Cyclops, looking over the others with his horizontal glare, ever unblinking and stationed for whatever may come.

Always at his side is Phoenix, Jean Grey-Summers, Cyclops's better half, to many. Though she is pregnant, she has not lost any of her natural beauty, as the early stages of her fertility have not affected her in physical or emotional manners.

Sitting closest to the two is Doctor Moira McTaggert, Scottish geneticist and long-time friend of the X-Men. She already knows what the meeting is about, since she is not a true member of the team, merely an associate. Still, she waits with an excited anticipation that she hides quite well. Moira is glad that things are finally happening.

Next to Moira is Barry Fitgurd, Blockade, her young lover and one of two most recent additions to the team. Of Irish decent, he is a large, reddish-auburn haired man with mutton-chop sideburns to match his body's size. He wears a standard issue yellow and black Xavier Academy costume, both he and Mimic without costumes of their own, and he leans back in the chair with arms crossed tightly. He would rather not wait.

Dazzler, Alison Blaire, sits relaxed, too. She plans to pay attention to the announcement, but really could care much less about what has to be said as long as her husband is out with the others. She still feels strange, with Cyclops sending Longshot on the mission without her. Still, she waits.

Finally, there is the youngest of the group, Kitty Pryde, or Shadowcat. She is dressed in parts of both her costume and common clothing, as she was called to the meeting in the midst of dressing. But more than any of the others, she anticipates the announcement, be it for better or worse.

With the whole group ready, Cyclops stands to speak.

"Moira? How are Nanny and Orphanmaker?"

"Well, th' one in blue doesn't talk much, which is fine with me, but th' woman tends to complain a bit. The lass knows we sent some folk into her little playhouse...not too powerful, but she's still a telepath, she is." Moira acts as the resident physician of Xavier's Academy.

"What about Orphanmaker? Do we have any idea of his powers?" Scott continues.

"Well, I ran a few tests on 'im, and he is a mutant...somethin' to do with metal, but not magnetic or somethin' of th' like. Still lookin' into it."

"Okay."

Scott puts his hands on the table and leans forward on it, sighing as he does so. He does not speak for a while.

"Scotty? Did ye call us fer anythin' else? I dinna think ye'd gather all of just for a check-up on th' guests..." Blockade asks, not sounding impatient, but feeling so.

"You're right."

"Well? What is it Scott?" Shadowcat asks anxiously. "Must be pretty important if we're all here."

"If is Kitty...very important." Jean assures her.

Cyclops finally finds the correct state of mind, and then the words come.

"Jean and I contacted Professor Xavier today to inform him of our new blessing, and it seems that he had something to tell us himself. The Professor announced to us that, as a way of helping humans accept mutantkind, the X-Men will be presented as a government-sponsored team under his campaign and, if he's elected, will become official under his being governor."

Dazzler is the first to voice her opinions.

"The government...funding and running the X-Men? Isn't that just about the opposite of everything they've ever done for mutants?" she asks skeptically.

"It is, which is why we're making the change." Jean says. " At this point, many people's opinions on mutants are either in the middle or even leaning towards acceptance...but we need the extra push, and the Professor has though of a way to help that."

"So what...we just do what the government says and gather up mutants?" Kitty wonders.

"Oh, no," Cyclops quickly informs her, "Not like that...that is more like X-Factor. Our group may be made of mutants, but that doesn't mean we'll deal with only mutant-related situations...we'll deal with everything from human crimes to superhuman crime, and if it comes up, mutant activity too."

Still, no one at the circular table seems sure of their position on the subject.

"D'ye really think this'll work for mutants?" Barry adds in.

"I.....I don't know what to think, Barry." Cyclops says without trust in his own words.

"It's what the Professor has said...so it's what we're going to do."

They all sit, or stand in Cyclops's case, in revelation, simply thinking, and once the correct time has passed, Jean stands and speaks.

"The Professor has specific jobs for some of us...Alison, he was hoping that you could design more...'team-based' costumes so we all have a common ground between us."

Alison sighs. "Of course he'd pick me...yeah, that's fine. I'll take a look at some pictures and start drawing after Longshot and the other's get back."

"Thank you. And Moira, Charles was hoping that you'd possibly join him for certain speeches concerning the genetics of mutants, if you could? Possibly work as a part-time running manager, almost?"

"Me?" Moira asks with surprise. She had known the bigger news, but not each detail. "I...I dunno. I'd like to, but I dinna want to leave Barry for too long, 'n...I'll have to think about it, okay?"

"That's fine Moira." Jean says, and Cyclops adds shortly, "Just try and figure it out soon."

"The rest of you just keep up what you've been doing on the team...and keep in shape, because I expect for the Professor to try and show us off to the public anytime soon."

These last words from Phoenix seem to linger, and then she dismisses them..

"That's all for now, but we'll keep everyone updated."

All disperse from the room except for Dazzler, who stays only for a moment to speak to the two leaders.

"Uh...I dunno if you guys have been keeping up with them...but have either of you heard from Longshot and the others yet?" she asks.

"Not yet, Dazzler, but don't worry...I'm sure Warren and the others are handling it." Cyclops assures her, and then he and Jean walk off.

And Alison stands there, alone in the room that was just full of life. She feels unsure of her husband's state...not just because of Warren's leadership, but a gut, natural intuition that she has in her stomach running up her throat and straight to her head.

The Dazzler shivers slightly, and is not sure why.

The train has been stalled for an hour and half, and the rest of the passengers are becoming restless. The complaining ended long ago, but still there is the hint of impatience and wondering in the air, as though if were asking...

"What's the Hell is the hold up?"

The voice wakes a young crimson-haired woman from he half-sleep, and she looks around to see just what is happening.

A teenage boy, with his mother and child sister, is the center of attention as the young man makes a ruckus.

"Reggie! Watch your mouth...you're embarrassing me and yourself." The mother tries to control him, but does not contain the correct force.

"It's the other way around, mom...you're embarrassing me! I'm not just some kid...I can talk like I want." He retorts insolently.

"You're still my child, Reggie, whether you're thirteen or thirty, so at least respect me in public, please."

He snuffs smugly. "Ha! How can I respect you when you baby me so much? It's like you're a damn nanny..."

"Reggie, I told you to watch your mouth. Now you watch Ruth while I go to the restroom, okay?"

"Fine." He answers her with a surly demeanor, and sits frustrated with his arms crossed.

The young red-haired woman now stands, leaving her seat and bags to themselves and walks slowly over to the two children.

"Hello, Reggie." She says sweetly.

"Who the Hell are you?" he asks, without looking at the woman, still gruff and cross-armed.

"You know, you should be nicer to your mom." She says, sitting in the seat that his mother occupied before.

"And why's that?" says the teenager.

"Well, she loves you no matter what you do, and you can't always find people like that. She goes through a lot to keep you and Ruth happy...working two jobs while trying to care for two children and take care of divorce papers can be tiring."

Reggie looks up in astonishment and frustrated disbelief.

"Huh? How did you know my mom works two jobs, and got divorced?"

"That doesn't matter. But I also know that you feel like it's your mom's fault that your dad doesn't live with you anymore...but it's not. Things just don't work out sometimes. You should be happy that you have a parent at all...some people don't even have that many."
Reggie sits quietly and thinks for a bit.

"I better get back to my seat. Be nice to Ruth and make sure she doesn't take too many pictures from behind the glass, okay?"

Reggie has picked up that questions seem hopeless with this beautiful young woman, but as she gets up to leave, he has to ask, "Hey...you never told me who you are."

The woman stops and turns around. "You mean my name?" she asks.

"Yeah."

She smiles a warm, friendly smile, with lips even redder than the tresses falling down her forehead from the ponytail behind.

"My name's Rachel. It was nice meeting you, Reggie. You kids be good now."

Reggie takes her eyes off the woman as he sees his mother approaching again. She sits down, and says something about the train being stalled, and Reggie holds onto her shoulder.

"Mom? About earlier...I'm...sorry about being so loud and everything..."

And Rachel stares out the window, resting her head on it and smiling at her reflection. Growing bored with the same area after almost two hours, she thinks for a moment, and a few passengers cheer lightly as the train makes a noise and begins moving once again, slowly to start.

"*click* Folks, this is the conductor...seems like the trains starting to get goin' again, so everyone make sure you're in your seats for now. Lunch'll be served at 2:30 PM until 3:30 PM... thank you. *click*"

The announcement is a good one for many, but for Rachel, it just means that she is one step closer to her home.

NEXT MONTH: What's in the closet, and the campaign continues

There was a considerable (for me) amount of time between #82 and this one, so I never really got to address a few of the "technical difficulties" that happened in the issue. First and foremost...I forgot to put a title! The story was supposed to be called "The Seed, Planted".. Second, the whole story is centered, and I have almost no idea how it got like that. And finally, the X-Men logo at the top got messed up in the HTML and didn't come through at all. Sorry about the mishaps, I'll try and fix those that I can get fixed, but apparently it wasn't too big a drawback with this enthusiastic letter from Steve Crosby.....

"It's about damn time! Sorry about the burst of emotion, but it really is. Rachel Summers is like 14 years old in the Days of Future Past, so it was 2000 or bust. The ending was a nice touch as well. So many ideas are coming through my mind that it isn't funny. Could the Jean in New York really be Maddy, while Jean's in Chicago? Will Cyclops leave his wife and unborn child for his ex (again!)? Is Wolverine really the father? While Marvel would probably take the most ridiculas and unreal idea possible, I know you'll do a good job with the story Will. Nice foreshadowing, by the way, mentioning Rachel earlier in the issue.

As to Mirror, or Mimic, or Jenny, or whatever, this issue really helped me like her a little more. I particularly enjoyed her Sentinal trick. I suppose it could have been mental, since the Danger Room computer is designed to be affected by telepathy and such.

The budding relationships, the girl talks, and all the other underlying plots are what makes X-Men the World's Greatest Comic Soap Opera. Keep up the good work!

Stephen Crosby"

Next issue sets into motion events that will change the way the public sees the X-Men and mutants in general...maybe. Be there and see for yourself, and thank you for reading.