#84

August, Year 4

"Shadows of Innocence"

Plotted by Will Short

Scripted by Stephen Crosby

In the inner area of New York City, a large, booming city, a building stood. It did not partake in conversation with the rest of the city, even its similarly shabby neighbors, nor did it stand out among the rows of mundane structures that it exemplified. From its outside, this warehouse seemed no different or better than its peers.

From the inside, a different tale was told.

Scattered like remnants of a war recently passed, the mutated children lived in an existence of silence save for crying and occasional laughter. They were ill fed, neglected…their Nanny, a mutant herself, could not care for all of them, as much as she wished to. So through the battered rooms of the warehouse they were spread, separated from the only mother they ever knew and left with a single sibling set over them all.

The intruders were friendly, and every bit as strange as the children. They explored and spoke and showed care for them. But no matter the intruders' intent, Timmy had to protect the children. He's seen too much betrayal and false smiles in his short life to trust, and he refuses to see his charges fooled as he once was.

In the furthest room, dark and hidden in the depths of the building’s seamy backside, he felt for their every move. One by one they were plucked from their places and brought to rest in his long, numerous arms.

They are stronger than the others, but that is all for the better. Overcoming their strength will make him all the stronger, better able to protect the children. Thus they fall one-by-one, and Timmy feeds, for he is a growing boy.

There were two more, coming ever nearer to him, ones that had injured him. He could not take that. He only saw it as offense…no other pretense could relate the assault. So as Longshot and the young Mimic opened the door to the pile of sliding tentacles, they were greeted with hostility.

And behind it all, Timmy smiled.

"So, is everybody ready?"

Kitty nods nervously, bracing for the humiliation of being seen in her new costume. The colors are all right, but the dark tones are all wrong for her, despite what Allison said about emphasizing the shadows around her. So what if it's practical for stealth and combat, this is in public!

Allison bites her lower lip and looks at Cyclops in a scolding manner. "You know I'm not ready, Scott, and you know these costumes aren't either. Rushing them like this for our public debut was a stupid idea, and you know it." Why she's criticizing her costume is a mystery to Kitty. More blue than yellow, the golden starburst on her chest breaks the blue perfectly and adds emphasis to her breasts.

The rest, of course, have more than enough reason to complain. Though Kitty knows it's because she's pregnant, Jean's loose outfit makes her look little more than a child, and a fat one at that. And she'll never understand that stupid yellow strap that Cyclops wears across his chest. It looks even uglier against the his mostly yellow costume.

Blockade seemed to dislike his costume even more than Kitty. It's obvious that yellow and blue just doesn't go with a man his size. Only that huge X crisscrossing his chest looks decent, because Kitty herself had suggested it to Allison.

"Don't worry Allison," Jean says reassuringly. "The costumes look excellent. Believe me, they'll be the last thing on the minds of the reporters. I still can't believe Charles is gonna parade us around as his personal mutant team."

"I'm not that thrilled about it either, Jean. But the Professor's done a lot for all of us. It's the least we owe him. And just think of how we'll be helping mutant/human relations." Cyclops obviously has more to say, but Dazzler interrupts, much to his annoyance.

"Oh, yeah, I have a lot to owe Professor Xavier! He only had nothing to do with the team when I was around. And it was his orders that prevented you all from coming to Mojo World to save Longshot and I. Shame on Rogue, Nightcrawler, and Colossus for betraying the dream to save the lives of some friends." Kitty's not completely sure, but she thinks that's sarcasm she hears in Allison's voice.

Before Scott can respond, Blockade steps up, towering over Allison. "From what I heard, ye hardly needed their help. If they was here instead 'a there, we mighta beaten de Word without a sacrifice."

Dazzler looks about ready to cry. Moira quickly steps forward and, placing her hand on Blockade's arm, whispers to him urgently. "Ye insensitive brute! Dinae realize she's lost all the friends she had on Mojo World. She's hard enough of herself for that, wit'out ye blaming Remy's death on her!"

"Both of you stop it right now!" Cyclops barks out. As he expected, they stopped then and there. "You're out of line Dazzler. Every mutant alive owes something to the Professor. The least you can do is use you powers to help him realize a dream that will benefit us all."

One of Xavier's aides rushes over to the assembled mutants. "Perfect costumes. They'll be great for the cameras. We just got the call. Mr. Xavier is on his way. Once he's here, you'll be taken outside to the press conference. This is very important to the campaign, so try not to screw it up with a mutant battle." As she walks away, she mutters a word that, though spoken low, can be heard by them. "Freaks."

Dazzler sneaks a sidelong glance at Cyclops. "Yeah, we're breaking down the barriers all right."

Cyclops whips his head around to face Dazzler, his visor glowing. She dares to mock him!

Kitty quickly speaks up, eager to avoid another internal conflict. She still misses the others so much. "C'mon guys. How are we supposed to get mutants and humans to get along together if we can't get along with ourselves? I'm sure the Professor had to make some compromises to get some decent help on his campaigns, but the majority of the people here are terrific, I'm sure."

Despite Kitty's words, the surrounding air is thick with tension. The past few days have been filled with so much dissent and arguing that its difficult to imagine a time when it was filled with anything but. Jean feels the anger and distrust around her, for all her efforts to block it out.

Finally, she just can't take it any longer. "Will you all please stop this! Dazzler, you're completely right. Here you are brought back into our home for just a few days and we already push you into something without even asking you. If you don't want to be here Allison, you're welcome to go back to the mansion. There won't be any hard feelings."

However, Scott looks as though he's about to voice a disagreement to that statement. Allison notices this, and with a huff, actually turns to go. The only thing that stops is the sight of Professor Charles Xavier coming through the door.

Wheeling up, Xavier passes smiles and hugs all around. "Moira, it's so good to see you again. And this must be the young man I've heard so much about." The two shake hands, Xavier's diminutive hand completely swallowed by Barry's massive hand. "Scott, where are the others?"

"Still at the warehouse, I'm afraid. We tried to contact them, but there was no answer."

"You didn't bother to investigate?"

"They can take care of themselves, Professor. Most likely one of the mutants they found had powers that blocked the signal."

"Perhaps so, but most likelies can get people killed Scott. The moment you lost contact with them, you should have gone to investigate."

"But you needed us here Professor-"

"I would rather you did the right thing, Scott. My winning a mere election is worth nothing if it costs the life of even one of my students."

A dark shadow passes over the face of Scott Summers. Dazzler brightens up significantly, as does Kitty. They feel that their friends have been vindicated. Jean casts a worried glance at Scott, fearful of how he'll take something like this.

Xavier looks out past them, and sees one of his aides give the signal. "Come, my X-Men. Our adoring public awaits." Kitty gives a light laugh at the Professor's joke, and everyone's hearts are lifted. Such is the true gift of Professor Charles Xavier.

As they walk out into the sunlight, they hear the announcer, well, announce them. "Ladies and gentlemen of the press...Professor Charles Xavier!"

Amidst a mixture of boos and cheers, Scott Summers wheels Xavier to the podium, Moira and the other X-Men walking behind them.

Longshot had lived on MojoWorld for all his life, constantly battling all the horrors thrown at him. In his time with the X-Men, he'd battled the Brood, the Reavers, the Adversary, and the demons of Limbo. After all he's been through, there is precious little on or off this planet that could scare him. Unfortunately, one of those things is in the room he's just entered.

Jenny Livenhill, the Mimic, has only been with the team a short while. Thus far all she's seen are cute children dressed as villains, bloated fat men, giant robots, and mutated children. In other words, this is precious little on or off this planet that couldn't scare her. Unfortunately for Jenny, what she sees does far more than scare. It takes all the will and courage she has not to faint dead away.

Jenny remembers the tales she's read as a child about Medusa and the Hydra. Medusa was once a beautiful priestess who was cursed by the goddess Athena. Her lustrous hair transformed into a mass of writhing snakes, her beauty became of ugliness to the extent that any who looked directly at her would turn into stone. The Hydra was a snake, or more specifically a mass of many snakes with one tail. Kill one of the snakes, and two more would take it's place. Because one of the snakes was immortal, it was impossible to be rid of the Hydra completely. She is reminded of both those legends, because what she sees today is both those legends brought to life.

It is a sight that would make Stephen King wake up screaming in a stinking wet bed. The hate-filled yellow eyes. The hairless, bloated, lime green head with dark green veins that are sickeningly visible. The frail, limp arms that hang lifelessly from the boney, sickly blue chest. The distended stomach, bloated with starvation. These are the most beautiful things in the world compared to what is below the waist.

Though he is a small young child, his head reaches nearly to the ceiling. A mass of writhing, squirming tentacles form a column of shifting green and blue that extends from his waist to the floor. There, extensions can be seen leading into nooks and crannies, where they spread throughout the warehouse. The floor is constantly shifting and writhing with green tentacles.

Mimic can't help it. She throws up when she realizes what the white sticks jostling amidst the tentacles are.

Along the walls, more tentacles creep, many grasping bones that crumble to white dust. It is here that Iceman Archangel, and Wolfsbane are, hung like pieces of meat by the tentacles of this horribly deformed mutant child.

Longshot and Mimic could probably tell whether or not their friends are all right, but they can’t really take the time for that. By now, they’d be a little too busy trying to stay alive.

"Mimic! Do your thing and copy some powers quick! Even my luck won’t hold out for long!" Leaping away from some tentacles, Longshot throws several blades straight up towards the bloated and distorted child’s torso. He doesn’t want to do this, but if it’s the only way to save his friends...

Fortunately, Longshot’s luck powers won’t allow cold-blooded murder. Timmy easily blocks the knifes with a tentacle swipe. His yellowish eyes bug out in anger, and Timmy sends several tree-thick tentacles down upon the hollow-boned hero.

With an agility that only hollow bones will allow and a luck that would make him a billionaire in Las Vegas, Longshot cartwheels out of the path of the massive tentacles, being careful not to get trapped by the many writhing tentacles on the floor. He manages to throw several more knives, but these too are deflected. He knows he can’t do anything against this child; that his only use is to draw the tentacles away from Jenny.

All their lives depend on Jenny mimicking their powers to effectively battle Timmy.

Desperately, Jenny dodges the many tentacles, making good use of Archangel’s wings to fly and slice. Once she sends out metallic feathers towards the body, but these too are deflected. Out of desperation, she takes on the powers of all nearby mutants.

She cries out in pain as her hair and nails grow, her bones become hollow, and her metal wings transform into beautiful feathered wings and back again.

Frost forms around her hands and her arms, much to horror, transform into long, writhing tentacles. For a moment, agony invades her body as frost covers the squirming tentacles that were once her arms. It takes every once of her willpower, but Jenny manages to block out Timmy’s powers, and her arms return to normal.

Suddenly, realization shines in Jenny’s eyes. The greenish fluid that the tentacles bleed. The pain that even the slightest cold brings on. These aren’t tentacles; they’re vines!

Alas, poor Mimic. No sooner does she realize this than a tentac-, er, vine slams into her back as her powers and body shifts. With a scream of utter terror, she is thrown to the ground into the waiting mass of living vines.

"I will now take questions from the ladies and gentlemen of the press."

There was a mixture of cheers and boos once the Professor had finished his speech. The X-Men, having been properly introduced, stood around him, while Moira MacTaggart stood off to the side from them. All that, however, was drowned out as the reporters fired away.

"Ms. Grey! Several years ago, you were legally listed as deceased. How then can you be here now?"

Jean hesitates a moment before answering. "I’m here now because I was never actually dead, just missing in action. Similar situations have occurred with Captain America, the Fantastic Four, Dr. Doom, even other X-Men. In this business, coming back from the dead isn’t that uncommon."

Nobody laughs.

"Mr. Summers, you and Ms. Grey both had taken part in the X-Factor business several years ago, in which you accepted money to imprison mutants. How can we be assured that this isn’t all a big scam like that was?"

Angrily, Scott answered. "It is true that we ran a business to find and imprison mutants. While it is true that we did not obligate all of our promises in that regard, the circumstances of those times made it necessary. Most of the mutants we were hired to hunt down were just kids that couldn’t control their powers. My team and I took them in and trained them so they couldn’t hurt others."

"Another question for Mr. Summers! I have here a marriage license for you and a Madelyne Pryor, as well as a birth certificate for a son by the name of Nathan Christopher Summers. What are their current whereabouts?"

For a moment, Scott does not answer. Shakily, he does. "You’ll also find divorce papers made out between Madelyne and I. I honestly don’t know where she is right now. You’ll also find a death certificate for my son. I would like to state at this point that I won’t answer any more questions in regarding either my son or my ex-wife."

"This one is for Dr. MacTaggart! Doctor, you were recently reported as having contracted the Legacy Virus. You’ve never commented on this."

Several of the X-Men stiffen, and Blockade seems very upset. Moira, however, straightens herself up and answers in a loud, clear voice. "I dinnae comment then, but ah’ll comment now! I dinnae have, nor ‘ave I ever, been infected wit’de Legacy Virus."

A few of the reporters mutter amongst themselves, trying to figure out just what the hell she said. Finally they decide she denied it.

After several more questions, Professor Xavier wheels forward. "If the press have no more question, I will now be accepting questions from the audience."

As ever, the men and women of New York have a lot to say.

A grandmotherly old woman raises her hand. "Mr. Xavier, what is your stand on education?"

Slightly taken aback from a question so far away from his campaign, Xavier answers as best he can. "As many know, I once ran a privately-owned school myself. Education is an important issue to me, and when elected I will do my very best to promote the education of our children."

There is some grumbling among the audience. It’s rather obvious to them that Xavier has not thought very hard about what to do concerning education. Another well-informed citizen asks a question. "Mr. Xavier, so far your entire campaign is centered around human/mutant relations. Do you have any plans to address more important issues such as abortion, gun control, campaign finance reform, health benefits, and taxes?"

Before Xavier can get a chance to answer, some young puck pushes the man aside. "Forget about those things, old man! None of it matters if we let the mutants take over!" Looks up at Xavier angrily. "What the hell are you thinking, entrusting our lives to mutants! They’ll just use this as an excuse to take over and kill us all!"

Cyclops starts to move forward, a speech at the ready, but Xavier waves him back. He’s actually relieved that he won’t have to answer anymore questions on those other issues. "I understand how you feel, son, but you can’t draw conclusions based on rumors and on the actions of a few. The X-Men have long fought to protect humanity from those few, and my proposal merely gives them the opportunity to do so much more."

In response to this, a strong wraps around the youths throat and yanks him backward. Pressing a pistol to the youth’s temple, the owner of the arm snarls up at the Senate hopeful and his team, a crazy look in his eyes. "Screw you, Xavier! Everyone knows that Freedom Force was just a bunch of crooks that gave the government a good deal. Then those bureaucratic bastards decide to improve their image by hiring a pack of celebrities. Turns out they were just more crazy mutant freaks. Well, we ain’t falling for it again! Do you hear me! WE AIN’T FALLING FOR IT AGAIN!!!!"

And a shot is fired.

Young Jenny Livenhill is not in the warehouse. She did not just find the people who took her in, the X-Men, mounted on a wall, slowly drained of their very life-force. She is not fighting alone against the millions of living vines that are a part of a young boy.

In reality she is, but in her mind she’s back home, safe and sound in her bed. The creak of hinges startle her awake, and in the pale light she sees Tony Bennett, her mom’s last boyfriend. He was one of the few that she liked, with his nice smile and easy-going personality.

But then he steps into her room, sits down on the bed, reaches out and...

Jenny tries to cry out, but he covers her mouth firmly with one hand while the other...shatters the innocence of a five year old girl. The next thing she hears is her mother screaming, Tony getting thrown out, and a slap across the face. What a blessing it was that her young mind blocked out the memories.

But the writhing, probing, groping vines bring it back, and all Jenny can see is the his face. That and the fire of hate. With the strength of an abused little girl, Jenny grasps as many vines as she can, and she lashes out instinctively. She knows what will take the pain away, and her subconscious finds the powers necessary, and activates them.

In less than a second, the vines stiffen, cover with frost, and shatter. Shock and pain flashes across the disfigured child’s face, and he commands the his extensions to retreat. One of the larger extension can knock her out with no problem.

The trunk-thick vine speeds towards Jenny’s head...and smashes against the foot-thick ice dome she’s surrounded herself with. Lashing out with all the hate, all the pent-up anger she’d hidden from herself for so long, a wave of cold more intense than the Siberian wastelands fills the room. She keeps it up for approximately two seconds before falling unconscious.

Fortunately, with only two seconds of such intense cold, the warm-blooded mammals, Jenny’s teammates in the X-Men, drop to the ground in relatively good shape. Plant-life, however, doesn’t fare nearly as well. Pieces of ice litter the floor of the room, a tinge of green in each one. As a direct result of this, someone else has crashed to the ground.

Iceman recovers first, his ice-coated eyelashes fluttering as he eyes open. Nearby, Wolfsbane and Longshot also regain consciousness. Archangel, unfortunately, lies prone on the ground, his fluffy white wings sprinkled with frost.

"Ungh. What’d I do this time?" Iceman wonders, looking around at all the shards of ice.

Groaning, Longshot looks up at the glittering shards around them. "Not you. Jenny." He nods at a corner of the room, and the other two look.

They see a young woman, no older than seventeen years old, kneeling over the disfigured form of a child. Her tears splash against the shivering blue and green skin. The pitiful yellow eyes look up at her blankly, as the shivering slowly stops. Jenny continues to weep long after Timmy has died.

Finally, Longshot and Wolfsbane step their way to her, while Iceman sees to Archangel. Rahne, places a shoulder on Jenny’s hand in comfort. "Ye did what ye had tae do. Every moment I was in his grasp twas torture. He was draining the life from us, Jenny! Twas us or him, and ye did the only t’ing ye could’a done."

Longshot nods. "I know how you feel, Jenny. I saw his life too! I can’t imagine the type of man who’d pull the plug on his own son. He’d been hurt and betrayed so many time that he had nothing but hate and death in his heart. You had no other choice."

Sobbing, Jenny looks up at him. "He was just a child, and I killed him because he was trying to protect his friends. I-I could have done something different. One of the children here is a telepath, I could have used that power to reach him!"

"Forget him. He tried to kill us and he paid the price for it." Archangel is on his feet, feathered wings metallic once again. "We still have a warehouse full of young children with bizarre powers. Any suggestions on what we do with them?

A loud bang, a wisp of smoke, and a fired bullet. Quincy Reed has just proven that he is capable of firing a gun, though firing it at a person is another matter entirely. Having driven his argument home, he lowers the gun back against the forehead of his hostage. "Anybody takes one step anywhere, and this head’s on their head! I will be heard!"

Cyclops moves to step forward, expecting to talk sense to this prejudiced madman. However, the Professor raises his hand, motioning that he’ll deal with it. Cyclops nods and steps back, knowing that dealing with this incident will be a big boost to the Professor’s campaign. Instead he links with the rest of the team, including Moira, via Jean.

Ok Jean, enter his mind and make it look good.

Jean Grey mentally shakes her head, a frown appearing on her face. I’m sorry Scott, but I can’t seem to enter his mind. It’s being protected somehow, and the presence behind it seems...familiar.

Ok then, now the Professor is buying us time to come up with something. There’s no telling how far his psionic protection goes, so TK is out as well. Okay people, we need ideas.

Professor Xavier cautiously wheels forward to the edge of the stage. Extending his right hand to Quincy Reed, the Professor addresses him. "Sir, there’s no need for the weapon or the hostage. I assure you that no harm will come to you. You may speak freely here."

Reed laughs harshly. "You think I’ll trust you? You’re one of them you fascist pig! I’ll bet there’s a dozen snipers putting me in crosshairs now! Well, no one’s blowing the brains out of Quincy Reed!"

"You have my promise, Mr. Reed, that you will not be hurt."

Just give the word, and I’ll slice his hand off with a laser before he can twitch.

Uh, thanks Dazzler, but let’s wait until we’ve explored all the possibilities. What do you suggest, Shadowcat?

Well, Scott, I could phase through the floor, then phase back up next to him. Then just phase the gun out of his hand. It’s all a matter of timing and speed.

And you don’t have enough of both. We’re right in front of him, and he’s watching us as closely as he’s watching the Professor. You’d never make it in time. Blockade; Moira?

"Please, Mr. Reed," Professor X says calmly. "explain your actions. Surely you can see the advantages of the X-Men working for the government. Even you cannot deny the good they’ve done in the past."

"You mean like how they sacrificed themselves in Dallas?" Quincy spits out. "I’m not a blind bigot, I can accept what people like them do. What I’m against is our government having control over power like there’s!"

For a moment, Xavier is speechless. Quincy Reed smiles and drives the point home. "You are a foolish one, aren’t you? What do you expect if you become Senator, that the X-Men would become a sort of mutant Avengers, righting wrongs with the government supporting the, yet not controlling them? You are a fool if you belief the bureaucrats in Washington would just sit on power like there’s and not use it for their own ends. And if they should prove uncooperative, well, that’s where the loved ones of their revealed identities come in."

The Professor is still speechless, as the points that Quincy made sink in. In their link, the assembled X-Men also ponder those words. They know well what happened to Freedom Force and X-Factor, and even the Avengers under Gyrich.

But before they can think too hard, Quincy turns the gun from the kid to the candidate. "In fact, I’d be doing New York a favor by removing a fool like you from the ballet." And he squeezed the trigger.

No!!!! "No!!!!" The screams of Cyclops are both felt and heard as he moves to protect the life of his mentor and father figure. Activating the controls to create the tiniest opening in his visor, he releasing a laser-thin beam of scarlet. Straight down of the barrel of a gun in the process of discharging. The result is not pretty.

The air is thick with the stench of gunpowder, and the sounds of screams mingled with an explosion. Quincey’s yell is one of agony, as he clutches the bloody mass of flesh that was his hand. The kid is lying on the ground, his hand covering his eye, trying to staunch the flow of blood. All around them, people in the crowd are screaming and running in a near-riot, and yet strangely there is no wounded among them.

Striding forward, Blockade grabs Cyclops by the shoulder, spinning him around. "What the bloody hell do ye think ye’re doin’? Ye coulda killed somebody!"

Instead of addressing Blockade, Cyclops turns to Jean. Speaking firmly, he says, "You weren’t fast enough, Jean. You were supposed to contain that explosion. That kid could lose his eye, or worse."

Jean opens her mouth, shock on her face. Before she can speak, however, Cyclops raises his hand. "Nevermind. It was my fault for moving too soon. Just do what you can to control the crowd."

Turning his head to look at Cyclops, Professor Xavier has a sad look on his face. "No, Scott. I think you should all go back to the mansion. Except you, Moira; I want to discuss some things with you."

Scott looks down at his mentor, shock on his face. "But Professor-"

"Now, Scott," He says firmly. "It will be hard enough to deal with this without your presence. Go before the reporters have recovered."

Sullenly, Scott turns to go, motioning for the others to follow. After a moment’s hesitation, the follow one-by-one, some taking longer than others. Jean Grey, fearful for her husband’s state of mine in light of all the recent stress. Dazzler, more unsure of her decision to stay with the X-Men with each passing minute. Shadowcat, finally starting to see from the point-of-view of Nightcrawler, Rogue, and Colossus. Blockade, worried about leaving Moira behind.

They are the X-Men, and even though they managed to save a life, they have lost this day.

Outside the gates of a mansion in Westchester Country, a pretty young woman who’s seen too much grief in her short life waits. As first she thought she was just waiting for someone to let her in, to hug her and her that she was missed. Now she knows that she doesn’t want to return home to her loved ones like that.

Rachel Summers looks out at the mansion, and she remember the two lives she’s there. The first she was a little girl, and she was happy her with her large, unusual family. Happy until the Sentinels came and took her, slaughtering her family and forcing her to find those that survived so the job could be finished. Later, she came back, and while she was older, those same family members were much younger. Then was a time of endless fighting, and while her heart is full of happy memories, her gut is bleeding with the reminder that even her friends will hurt her at times.

But she’s going to be born again, she reminds herself. It’s the same year, same cycle, same circumstances. Even the Dark Phoenix couldn’t stop her from being born, and this she’ll make sure that no Sentinels show up to take her happiness away.

Every little girl deserves a happy childhood, Rachel thinks, tears streaming down her face.

After a few moments, Rachel turns towards the waiting cab and gets in. After paying the driver for the drive up, she tells him to take her to a hotel down in Salem Center. Pulling up to the main road into town, neither the driver nor the passenger notice the aircraft flying towards the mansion. Nor do they notice the two winged figures flying beside it.

Blurred vision only allowed Quincy Reed a number of images to feast upon. His head ached along with the rest of his body, and he was not exactly sure of what had happened. But looking up at the sky aimlessly, while being carried away with haste by the paramedics, he saw it.

He saw a shifting, cloudy sky full of lighting and shadows and deep, dark blackness that was only illuminated by the eerie shining light making two evil eyes and a horrible smile. Quincy heard its low, inhuman voice, and though he could not make out what it was saying, he recognized it as the same voice that had told him to bring the gun, and to take the child hostage, and.....

Quincy has in a state of delirium. Within minutes of entering the ambulance, he was unconscious and free of care or sight for the next few hours. When he woke in the hospital that night, handcuffed to the stiff white bed, he remembered nothing of the day's proceedings. They were only Shadows left hidden in his mind.

Next Month: The X-Men play baby-sitter, and feedback on Scott’s actions.

Here we are. I suppose it had to happen sometime...I mean, who really though I was the right type of writer for Marvel's first mutant family (although which Grant Morrison soon hopping on in the real Marvel, perhaps stranger things are to come)? There is any number of problems with my five issue solo run on this title, and while I and some other enjoyed it, I finally decided that this book wasn't going quite like I wished it to. Add that to the chance I got to write Thor over at the Avengers Branch, and boom.....I almost left the X-Men. But I still had a few ideas that I really liked for the book, and I didn't want to leave someone else with the situation and characters I had just then gotten into a semi-stable position. So I turned to my confidant, my fan, and my friend Steve Crosby, who's writing for MV1 has already proved that he is the man for many jobs, this being one of them, I think.

So you know, Steve has many great ideas that he is already putting into the book and I'm sure that anything I give him can be fortified by his good characterization, sense of drama and characterization, and good old comic book action. I hope any and all readers of this book enjoy his take on the X-Men as much as I have so far (and that's just one issue). I know he'll help take things places I would never have imagined.

I haven't discussed this with Steve, but the letters section should probably be covered by him, too. If you want to send anyone praise, Steve is the man for it, but if you want to send the letter to both of us, that's perfectly welcome too. So this is my halfway stepping-out for the moment, now. Long live King Crosby!

-Will Short