Nation X #2

Issue Date: 
March 2010
Story Title: 
Story Title: Wish You Were Here (1st story)<br> 7 ½ (2nd story)<br> LDR (3rd story)<br> Cajun Justice!
Staff: 

i>First Story:CB Cebulski & Jim McCann (scripters), Mike Choi & Sonia Oback (artists), Jeanine Schaefer (editor)

Second Story: John Barber (scripter), David Lopez (penciler), Alvaro Lopez (inker), John Rauch (colorist), Nick Lowe (editor)

Third Story: Tim Fish (scripter and artist), Tim Piotrowski (colorist), Daniel Ketchum (editor)

Fourth Story: Becky Cloonan (scripter & artist), Jody Leheup (editor)

Jared Fletcher (letterer), Dustin Weaver & Morry Hollowell (cover artists), Anthony Dial (production), Joe Quesada (editor-in-chief), Dan Buckley (publisher), Alan Fine (executive producer)

Brief Description: 

First Story:

Jubilee is visited by Anole, Dust, Rockslide, Trance and Loa. They catch up on recent events before Surge arrives. Jubilee and Surge argue. Jubilee writes a letter to Wolverine.

Second Story:

Quentin Quire returns and informs Martha Johansson that he is destroying Utopia and she has only seven and a half minutes to stop him. Being a brain, Martha is somewhat limited in her capacity to do so, but uses her telepathic powers to battle Quire, and with the aid of the Stepford Cuckoos, takes her new arch enemy down.

Third Story:

Commuting back from Toronto where he has been visiting his boyfriend Kyle, Northstar unwittingly leads a pack of Warwolves to Utopia, though Storm repels them. Cyclops tells Northstar off for leading them to Utopia and tells him to sort his life out. Desperately missing Kyle, Northstar asks him to visit Utopia. With permission from Aurora, Kyle does, but things don’t go as planned, as Kyle feels left out on Utopia, and wants to stay in a hotel. A Warwolf returns and battles Northstar. Northstar takes Kyle to San Francisco, and although they don’t break up, there is obvious strain in their relationship, but Kyle promises to return to Utopia someday.

Fourth Story:

Dealing with his own inner demons, Gambit sneaks off Utopia in the middle of the night, and ends up rescuing Mr Cho, who was apprehended by thugs. Not wanting him to take supplies to Utopia. Gambit damages Mr Cho’s plane while rescuing him, and takes the supplies to Utopia, in an attempt to redeem himself.

Full Summary: 

First Story:

San Francisco, where Jubilation Lee - better known as “Jubilee” - sits under a lamp, lighting the boardwalk. The glow of the city’s lights behind her, as she writes a letter:

Hey! I’m in San Fran. Guess I just missed you. Sorry I haven’t been out to the island yet. You know how it is, always on the go, but, hey, it’s all good, right? Running around, soul-searching after all that went down. That’s me. Learned from the best.

Nearby, several unique teenagers run across the boardwalk. ‘C’mon, we’re gonna be late!’ one of them exclaims. ‘She’s here already!’ another declares.

But don’t worry, I’m making friends. I’m fine, really. But don’t worry, I’m making friends, I’m fine, really. Let me try this again….

‘Sorry! We’re here! The charter almost left without us!’ exclaims Trance, in her astral form as she, Anole, Dust, Loa and Rockslide appear behind Jubilee, who spins around in shock. ‘Geez, Trance! Welcome to my heart attack!’ Jubilee smiles. ‘You doing homework? Ugh. I thought that stuff ended when you graduate. That’s it. I’m totally flunking this year on purpose’ Rockslide mutters. Dust tells Jubilee that she is sorry they are late. ‘Yeah, Anole had to do his hair’ Rockslide remarks, to which Anole tells him to shut up.

Hey, just wanted to say hey. didn’t want to take too much time…I’m sure you have your hands full with all the new kids.

‘You’ve got a mad crush, we all know it’ Rockslide continues to annoy Anole. ‘Shut up!’ Anole exclaims. ‘Wait, can you even have crushes on girls?’ Rockslide asks. ‘Santo, I swear to -’ Anole begins, but Dust interrupts: ‘Boys, enough’ she tells her teammates.

Don’t worry about me. I’m great. Seriously. You know me, I can handle myself. I think I may have a job & I’m finding a place. It’ll be great!

Jubilee asks the youngsters who is going first. Trance’s astral form smiles and exclaims that she hit Ms Marvel in the face. ‘I mean, not the real one, but the bad one -’. ‘She was hot, though!’ Rockslide declares. ‘Norman Osborn tried to blow us up!’ Anole reveals. ‘It was crazy, everyone was there. Oh and Dagger is really pretty in person’ Loa smiles.

Seriously, you know me, I can handle myself. I think I may have a job & I’m finding a place. It’ll be great!

Hey, “Bub” -

Jubilee, wearing a new pair of shades, smiles and tells the kids that she saw some of that on TV. ‘It looked nuts. How was it? Were you scared?’ she asks. ‘A little’ Loa admits. ‘Yes’ Trance exclaims. ‘Who wouldn’t be?’ Anole asks. ‘Nope’ Rockslide boasts. ‘You should be’ Jubilee tells him, leaning back on a railing. ‘When I was with the X-Men, we got captured and put on an island. It wasn’t pretty. But I snuck away and helped save the day. Sometimes you have to run away to get back in the fight’ Jubilee explains.

Sorry this is so short. I really don’t know what to say in a letter, but I thought I should try. I don’t know if I’m even allowed on Utopia. “Mutants only?”

Jubilee tells Rockslide that he probably dropped a brick when he saw the Avengers attack. ‘Busted’ Dust tells him, before asking Jubilee ‘That was Genosha, wasn’t it? Where you were held captive?’

I really don’t know what to say in a letter, but I thought I should try. I don’t know if I’m even allowed on Utopia. “Mutants only?”. So, how’s island life?

‘Yeah. Looooong time ago. But then some mutants made it their home’ Jubilee answers Dust’s question. ‘Before it was destroyed’ Dust adds. Trance asks Jubilee if that is why she doesn’t come on Utopia anymore. ‘Are you afraid?’

Utopia looks awesome at night. But what kind of name is that anyway?

‘Of course not’ Jubilee replies. ‘You guys are totally safe out there. You’ve got Cyclops in charge, and he’s, like, really serious about that kinda stuff. ‘And Wolverine!’ Loa exclaims. Jubilee’s bottom lip drops: ‘Yeah…him too’ she replies, before smiling and asking if there are any new faces. ‘Seems there’s somebody new flying overhead out there every day’. ‘Oh, yeah! There’s soooo many mutants, it’s rad!’ one of them exclaims.

Anole tells Jubilee that she should come to the island. ‘You know you can come and go. All the X-Men do. Wolverine, Cyclops, Psylocke…’ he begins, while Rockslide tells Anole that Jubilee is “so slammin”.

I can see it from the pier. There’s even one designated now in the harbor to watch at night. All the powers gone off. It’s like the 4th of July every night with fireworks.

I can see it from the pier. There’s even one designated now in the harbor to watch at night. All the powers gone off. It’s like the 4th of July every night with fireworks.

‘Yeah, I don’t know if that’s really my thing anymore’ Jubilee replies, looking away, while a newcomer exclaims ‘Probably not. Since you’re not a mutant anymore!’. Everyone turns and sees Surge standing before them. ‘Are we in trouble?’ Trance asks. Jubilee asks Surge what she is doing here, telling her that she was not invited.

‘What are you doing? Training them? Giving tips?’ Surge asks. ‘Last time I checked, they had teachers with powers to do that. X-Men! Which you are not!’ Surge declares. Jubilee lifts her shades up and points out that Storm led the X-Men without powers back in the day. ‘She didn’t need them to be part of the team’. ‘Back in your day?’ Surge asks, before exclaiming ‘Anyone who’s a mutant…let’s go. Now’.

‘Who the hell are you to even think you know me?’ Jubilee declares, while Loa, Anole and Rockslide frown. ‘Looks to me like you’re a burnout who’s practically stalking the X-Men when you should be as far away from here as possible, living a normal life!’ Surge declares. ‘You mean the life you want?’ an exasperated Jubilee asks. Jubilee exclaims that Surge would love to be without powers, living in some square state in small town USA as far away from here as possible and call that “life”. ‘Better than looking over your shoulder every day wondering which of my friends are gonna die next!’ Surge retorts.

‘You do not want to play the body count game with me’ Jubilee warns Surge, telling her that people die, it’s a fact and it sucks. ‘Doesn’t matter if you’re a human or a mutant. At least as a mutant we -’ she begins, before realizing that Anole and the other kids are standing behind her. ‘We have the chance to make a difference and maybe save some lives’ Jubilee exclaims, adding that there is something different in all of them, and nothing - not a spell, or big gloves - nothing can change that or take it away.

‘We’re all still mutants’ Jubilee exclaims. Surge looks at her, and doesn’t say anything, before hanging her head and tells her teammates that it is time to go. The kids all turn and walk away, while Jubilee sits down on the bench. ‘You…you want a ride? There’s room’ Surge calls back. ‘Thanks, but I got some stuff to finish here’ Jubilee replies. ‘You want me to say hi or anything?’ Surge asks. ‘Nah. I got this’ Jubilee tells her. Jubilee sits and watches the night turn darker.

Dear Logan -

‘So, what…you want me ta just head out to that Utopia Island and hand the first person I see this letter? How’s anyone supposed ta know who it’s for?’ a ferry operator asks Jubilee as she stands on the dock near his boat. ‘Don’t worry…he’ll smell it coming a mile away!’ Jubilee exclaims as she spins around and walks away, dropping her shades back down over her eyes.

Wish you were here!

XOXOX,

Jubilee

Second Story:

‘I had a nightmare’ a voice exclaims. ‘I dreamed that all my people were gone because the X-Men were too stupid to save them. And - even worse - they stole my idea and created a mutant nation’. A green gas cloud appears - and from it, materializes Quentin Quire! Looking pleased with himself, Quentin exclaims that he then woke up and the nightmare was real. ‘You remember me. Nobody can forget Quentin Quire!’ he boasts. Quentin claims that he got over that “Stupid stupid psychic girl” and her “stupid psychic sisters”, and got bored existing on a higher plane and living in a jar in Dr McCoy’s room. Quentin boasts that he is back, and that in eight minutes he is going to destroy this island of “Utopia” and kill everyone on it.

‘Now…I can affect the actions of a few people a lot, or a lot of people a little, and I can think ten million brilliant thoughts a second!’ he claims, adding that he has arranged an accumulation of small, seemingly unrelated actions that will push the island - very literally - past the tipping point. ‘Nobody’s going to realize they’re doing anything, so nobody’s going to try to stop me. Well, except you. If I’m a super villain, I need an arch-nemesis!’ Quire remarks. Quentin begins to revert to the gaseous form as he tells his apparent arch-foe that they have eight - actually seven-and-a-half minutes to save the X-Men from their worst nightmare. ‘A vengeful mutant from a higher plane of existence!’ he exclaims as he vanishes.

Quire’s “arch foe” remains silent - for she is Martha Johansson. She cannot speak, cannot move, and nobody is going to come looking for her here in her bedroom - and she has just been given the greatest responsibility of her life. Martha is a brain, and remains in a bubble with needles sticking out of it, kept afloat by an anti-gravity device, while being tied to the ground by a chain. She is a telepath and can enter other people’s minds and control them - that is her fist move.

Martha reaches out to find someone - anyone - but she just keeps finding Quire. His mind is everywhere - a choir of Quire. Amongst it though, Martha finds Bobby “Iceman” Drake, using his powers to cool something down, he sings to himself: “When will the suffering reach it’s end? Can man and mutant meet as friends? Or do all hopes and -” he stops suddenly, his eyes flash pink, Martha is in his mind, and exclaims ‘We are in great danger!’.

At that moment, Nezhno Abidemi a.k.a. Gentle walks past and asks Iceman what is wrong. ‘You sound like you had a stroke’. ‘It is not Bobby Drake - I am Martha! Marth Johansson! Quentin Quire is back!’ Martha exclaims through Bobby. Gentle’s eyes flash green, and he smirks: ‘Martha, Martha, Martha’, asking her if she thought it would be that easy. ‘I’m Quentin Quire. I’m not a villain - I’m a super villain. And you’re three pounds of neuron sitting in some pink goo in a fishbowl!’ Quire booms as he uses Gentle’s power to increase his mass, towering over Martha/Iceman, he knocks her/him back. ‘Possessing people? Please, there’s nothing you can do that I can’t!’ he boasts.

Quentin/Gentle reaches down to grab Martha/Iceman, and exclaims that he is going to beat Bobby Drake to a pulp with Martha’ psyche still inside. ‘If you fight back, you’ll be hurting Nezhno here and -’

Martha realizes that round one goes to Quentin Quire, so she decides to try her other mutant ability - that of being able to shut down any mutant’s power, provided they are nearby. So Martha takes control of the first strong body she locates - James “Warpath” Proudstar, who grabs Martha’s chain and takes her to where Quentin said he was located - a jar in the Beast’s lab. If no one emptied the Beast’s quarters after he left, then it should still be there. Lucky for Martha, it is, and through Warpath she picks it up - but she is forced from Warpath and returns to her own “body” as Quire takes over Warpath’s.

‘Martha…you haven’t even got a body. You made three mistakes. First, I’m stronger than you - note the one-billionth of a second it took me to clear you out of this head. Second - I’m not in that jar, anymore. And here’s the third…’ Quire begins as he/Warpath grabs the chain - and smashes it against the wall, leaving Martha - the brain - to fall to the floor. ‘Round two to Quentin Quire. You’ve less than ninety seconds, Martha!’ Quire warns her as he leaves the lab.

But Martha now has all the information she needs. Quentin may not be in the lab anymore, but he is somewhere. She recalls how he said “the stupid psychic sisters”, and how he claimed he was over them. But if there is one thing Martha knows, it is now a brain works - Quentin wouldn’t say he was over them if it were true.

Elsewhere, the “stupid psychic sisters” - Mindee, Celeste and Phoebe - collectively known as the Stepford Cuckoos - are inside Cerebra. ‘Girls - I’m getting a strange reading from Dr McCoy’s room…’ one of them remarks. ‘The possibility of something happening here is as likely as something happening between Celeste and Julian’ one of the others replies. ‘I’ll have you know I’m meeting him at three’ Celeste boasts, smiling.

Martha realizes that Quentin would have waited until the Cuckoos were monitoring Cerebra, the telepathic mutant detection system - and he would have entered the system itself and used it to trap their minds in a psychic loop. That is exactly what happens, as the girls repeat themselves, unaware that a green gas pours into the room, and Quentin materializes. To replay the moments before he made his move, so the sisters would have no clue anything is wrong.

‘Nicely pieced together, Martha’ Quentin remarks as he moves up behind Celeste. ‘Unfortunately, the Cuckoos have very powerful psychic defenses - well out of your league. I’m afraid you’ll haven o luck controlling any of them’ Quire tells Martha. But Quentin doesn’t understand that Martha is done playing his game - his game isn’t control. ‘I’ll have you know I’m meeting him at three - …past three, now…’ Celeste exclaims, her eyes glowing pink, she sees the time is 3:08 pm and stands up, ‘Who’s in my head…Martha?’ she calls out. Martha tells her everything in an instant, and Celeste sees Quire as he vanishes into green gas. ‘Cuckoos - Quentin Quire is loose!’ Celeste tells her sisters, announcing that he is in Cerebra.

‘And there’s nothing you can do about it, girls! You all die in eight seconds!’ Quentin boasts as his image appears on a monitor. ‘Quire - you’ve been away too long - and you have no idea - what we have become capable of!’ the Stepford Cuckoos exclaim. Quentin vanishes from the monitor, screaming, and gas appears in the room. ‘We’ll take it from here, Martha. Help is on the way and…thank you’ one of the Cuckoos tells Martha.

Lying on the lab of the Beast’s laboratory, Martha dismisses the Cuckoos kindness, as she has done what anyone would do. But it feels nice to be someone’s archenemy. Maybe it’s time for Martha to get a costume….

Third Story:

Utopia, where Northstar finds himself falling to the ground, under attack by a pack of Warwolves. Storm calls out to him, while Cyclops tells Storm to get up and help him. ‘So tasty!’ one of the Warwolves exclaims, lunging at Northstar. ‘Get off me!’ the speedster exclaims, pushing the Warwolve away, while Storm conjures up a strong breeze to push the Warwolves from her, and Northstar falls to the ground with a THUD. Cyclops rushes over to him, asking him if he is okay. ’So what happened up there?’ Cyclops asks, helping Northstar up. Northstar explains that he was flying back from Canada, and the Warwolves found him. ‘I could not shake them and then I was here, above Utopia!’ Northstar declares. Cyclops frowns and tells Northstar to clean himself up and meet him in his office.

Soon, Cyclops tells Northstar that he is very disappointed. ‘You let us down again’ he declares. Northstar tells Cyclops that he is sorry, explaining that he misses his home and his boyfriend, so he has been traveling a lot. ‘Being an X-Man and maintaining a long distance relationship is exhausting!’ Northstar declares, to which Cyclops reminds Northstar that he made a commitment to this team, and tells him that if he cannot help them make Utopia work, they may all be doomed. ‘Deal with your personal issues without endangering us all, understood?’ he orders. ‘I’ll try…’ Northstar mutters.

Soon, Northstar is in a basement with Pixie, who is trying to fix a broken pipe, which gushes water everywhere. ‘Kyle’s so sweet. Cute. Very funny’ he brags, as he hands Pixie a spanner. ‘And organized! He keeps me focused. I’d be lost without him!’ Northstar exclaims as he follows Warpath around. Later, Northstar sighs as he looks at a photo of Kyle on his mobile phone, while flying backwards - straight into Dazzler who is roller skating nearby and singing. Dazzler falls over, and Northstar quickly apologizes, telling Dazzler that he has not heard from Kyle in a while. ‘Just call him, then!’ Dazzler exclaims.

And later, night has fallen over Utopia. Northstar sits on the edge of a building, the moon shines down on him as he speaks into his phone: ‘Please? I can’t keep up this pace anymore. I know you’ll have to use some vacation time. But your boss will understand! Please? I miss you!’ Northstar exclaims. I’ll see what I can do’ Kyle replies from his bed.

The next day, in Toronto, Kyle walks into his manager’s office, and exclaims ‘Get this - Jean-Paul has asked me to visit him in Utopia’. ‘A request? Are we talking about my brother Jean-Paul?’ Jeanne-Marie a.k.a. Aurora asks as she points at a photo of Jean-Paul. Kyle replies that Jean-Paul sounded awful - tired, lonely and humble. ‘Barely the man I love!’ he adds, asking Aurora if she would like him to go. ‘Of course!’ Aurora exclaims. ‘You have been a trusted friend for ages. When I hired you as his event manager, I’d hoped to keep track of him and keep him out of trouble…but I never expected you two to fall in love! Since you have, I want you to go. As his boyfriend. He needs you’ Aurora exclaims, pushing Kyle out of her office.

Soon, Kyle throws some clothes into a suitcase. Later, he frowns as the person in the seat next to his snores on the plane. After arriving in San Francisco, he finds a cab and asks the driver to take him to the docks. There, Kyle points out to Utopia and asks some construction workers on the dock if that is the mutant “Utopia”. ‘Freak Island? Yeah’ one of them replies. ‘Glad the muties are away from us on that ugly island’ the other declares. The construction workers laugh and point, while Kyle phones Northstar: ‘Hey, babe. Guess who’s on the docks looking in your direction?’

Northstar drops his phone on the floor, and flies to the dock at super-speed - collecting Kyle and flying straight to his bedroom. He puts Kyle down and lights some candles, before sitting on his bed, and patting the space next to him, beckoning Kyle to sit down.

An undermined amount of time later, Northstar is sitting on the bed in a pair of shorts, while Kyle has returned from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. ‘Sorry I don’t have my own working bathroom yet’ Northstar remarks. ‘Me too’ Kyle replies, before looking around the sparse room, their clothes strewn on the floor, and asking ‘So…this is your quarters, huh? Maybe we could check into a hotel? San Francisco is pretty’ Northstar puts on a t-shirt and after Kyle has almost finished dressing, Northstar grabs him by the hand: ‘Let me show you around!’

‘This is the dining hall’ Northstar points out as they walk past the Stepford Cuckoos to where Cannonball, Mirage, Sunspot and Magik of the New Mutants are sitting. ‘Could I get some coffee?’ Kyle asks. ‘Self-serve’ Cannonball tells him. ‘And it’s not any good’ Mirage adds. ‘How about the hotel?’ Kyle asks.

But Northstar takes Kyle into the gym, where Angel is flying through hoops, and Blindfold is lifting a ball. ‘Hotel?’ Kyle asks. But they next enter the lounge, where Hellion, Surge, Loa and Onyxx are relaxing. ‘We can hang out here’ Northstar remarks, before exclaiming ‘Everyone, this is my BF, Kyle’. ‘…hey’ Kyle remarks, waving. ‘So, you’re Northstar’s “normal”’ Hellion remarks. ‘Seriously. Hotel. Please’ Kyle whispers.

Not much later, Northstar and Kyle are on the edge of Utopia, Kyle with his suitcase, telling Northstar that they can go to the Moma and get a good meal, when suddenly, ‘I knew my tasty would come back to me!’ a Warwolve exclaims, lunging at Northstar. ‘Get down!’ Jean-Paul exclaims, throwing Kyle to the ground. ‘You won’t take me today! Not when I’m about to have a romantic evening with my special boy!’ Jean-Paul exclaims, slamming into the Warwolve, while Kyle screams. ‘Take over, will you?’ Northstar calls out to Colossus and Psylocke, who begin battling the Warwolve. ‘I have to get my guy to safety!’ Northstar exclaims, picking up Kyle, who is still screaming. ‘You made dinner reservations, right? I’m hungry!’ Northstar exclaims.

‘Jean-Paul! Put me down!’ Kyle exclaims as they fly toward San Francisco. ‘What’s wrong?’ Northstar asks, ‘You’re kidding, right?’ Kyle replies as Northstar descends over San Francisco. ‘Are you overreacting to a little fight?’ Jean-Paul asks. ‘No, Jean-Paul…I’m not. It’s more than that. Much more!’ Kyle exclaims, telling Northstar that their relationship is so one-sided. ‘You can be a part of my world in the blink of an eye…but I can never be part of yours. And don’t think I want to be’ Kyle declares, hanging his head and motioning to Utopia.

Northstar turns away from Kyle, ‘I like the face that you’re not part of this world…but I guess I understand why you’re breaking up with me’ he declares. ‘NO!’ Kyle exclaims, eyes-wide. ‘I don’t want to lose you. I just think we need to be meeting on common ground. Safe ground. The ground’ Kyle exclaims. Northstar frowns, before remarking that it sounds like he will be visiting Kyle in Toronto soon. ‘But maybe you can try visiting Utopia again? When my bathroom is working?’ he suggests. ‘I promise’ Kyle tells him, as they clasp hands and look out to Utopia.

Fourth Story:

Utopia, Tuesday, 11:47 pm.

Gambit brushes his teeth, and stares into the mirror, telling himself that he will be the first to admit that he has made some bad decisions in his life. Even with his eyes open, the scenes repeat themselves in front of him, over and over. His eyes flash red. He continues brushing his teeth, and thinks to himself ‘As if reliving my memories is enough to change the past. But the further I run from it, the faster it catches up with me. It’s disgusting’. Gambit spits the toothpaste into the sink.

11:53 pm.

Gambit leaves his quarters, and in the hallway, Pixie is talking to Wolverine: ‘Do you know what happened to today’s shipment? We’re totally out of toilet paper -’ Pixie tells Wolverine, who sees Gambit, and asks ‘Bailing already, Cajun?’ Gambit replies that he is just going for a walk, explaining that he has been having trouble sleeping lately. ‘I wouldn’t be able to sleep either if I were a Marauder’ Wolverine declares. ‘That’s all in the past’ Gambit tells him. ‘Best hope it stays there’ Wolverine declares, telling Gambit to enjoy his walk, for if nothing else, it is a beautiful night. Gambit’s eyes flash red as he leaves the hallway.

Outside, Gambit stands on the edge of Utopia, and thinks to himself that Wolverine means well. ‘Pity the same can’t be said about me’ he adds. Gambit walks along the rocks, thinking that some people blame choice they make on the way they were raised, while others, say they can’t do good because they’re bad by nature. ‘But me…what’s my excuse? How can I expect people to count on me when I can’t even on myself. Do the right thing for once in your life’ he tells himself as he finds a small boat tied up at the edge of the rocks.

11:59 pm.

Back inside, Pixie bangs on the door to Cyclops’ office. ‘Are you awake? She calls out, before entering. ‘What is it, Pixie? I was just wrapping up in here’ Cyclops tells her. ‘Somebody’s take one of our boats! I…I think it was Gambit!’ Pixie announces. Cyclops asks her if she is sure, to which Pixie replies that she is pretty sure, explaining that she and Wolverine bumped into Gambit as he was heading outside. ‘Also, we’re totally out of toilet paper’ Pixie informs Cyclops, who gets on the radio transmitter: ‘Gambit? Can you hear me? I need to you to turn that boat around right now’ Cyclops orders.

‘You know we have limited resources, and that includes boasts. Turn the boat around. If you want to go to San Fran, somebody can take you in the mor-’ Cyclops continues, but Gambit turns off the radio in the boat. Soon, he pulls up at the dock in San Francisco, thinking to himself that Cyclops knows better than anybody that things are better off this way. ‘Taking a chance on me is a gamble none of us can afford right now’ he adds, before thinking that he can’t believe Cyclops let him back on the team in the first place. ‘After everything I’ve done…what was he thinking?’ Gambit wonders.

Suddenly, he hears a struggle: ‘Who’s there?’ Gambit calls out. ‘Just some concerned citizens, friend. We caught this man conspiring with the enemy - running supplies out to that island of freaks’ a thug declares, while his fellow holds their prisoner around the neck. ‘You sure you’re not terrorizing this man? ‘Cause that’s sure what it looks like’ Gambit exclaims. ‘Just get the hell out of here! What are you, some kina mutie lover?’ one of the thugs asks. ‘I reckon you could say that’ Gambit tells him, pulling out a playing card and kinetically charging it.

‘He’s one of -’ the other thug exclaims, letting their prisoner go. ‘Move it! You just made a big mistake, freak!’ the first thug declares, revealing a gun, he opens fire at Gambit, who dodges the bullets, and replies ‘I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my life - but this ain’t one of them!’, and with that, Gambit throws his kinetically charged playing card at the armed thug, knocking him and his companion backwards, but the card lands against a small plane, damaging it.

Gambit begins to walk along the dock, when suddenly the man he rescued exclaims ‘Wh- what about -?’, but Gambit tells him that the thugs are unconscious. ‘You might think about calling the cops before they wake up’. ‘No, it’s -’ the other man begins. ‘I’m sorry’ Gambit tells him, but the man gets up and tells Gambit to wait a minute. ‘My plane! Who’s going to pay for this?’ he asks. ‘Oh…uh…’ Gambit utters, while the man exclaims ‘Now what am I gonna do?’

Gambit tells him he is sorry and that he will find a way to pay for the damage. ‘It’s not just that!’ the man declares, before remarking ‘I’m sorry. You’re from the island - Utopia, that’s what they call it. That means you’re a mutant? Well, so was my daughter’. ‘Was?’ Gambit asks. ‘She died when she lost her powers on M-Day’ the man remarks, hanging his head. He tells Gambit that he never fully accepted his daughter, not really, and said some terrible things - things that he regrets. ‘Now that she’s gone, it’s - I’ve just been doing what I can to try and get her trust back’.

The man apologizes, but Gambit tells him not to, and remarks that he has got some trust to earn back too. ‘This is all on me’ he tells him, before they open the plane and see that the cargo is safe. The man tells Gambit that he is welcome to take whatever he can carry back to Utopia, as he will not be delivering anytime soon. ‘Thank you, Mr…’ Gambit begins. ‘Cho. Really, I’m the one who should be thanking -’ Mr Cho remarks, but Gambit tells him that he will make sure they get the plane of his backing the air. ‘You can count on me’ Gambit assures him, and soon, travels back to Utopia, the jet boat loaded up with supplies.

Characters Involved: 

First Story:

Jubilee

Anole, Dust, Loa, Rockslide, Surge IV, Trance (all X-Men students)

Ferry operator

Second Story:

Iceman

Warpath

Gentle

Stepford Cuckoos

Martha Johansson
Quentin Quire

Third Story:

Angel, Colossus, Cyclops, Dazzler, Northstar, Psylocke, Storm (all X-Men)

Cannonball, Magik, Mirage II, Sunspot (all New Mutants)
Warpath (member of X-Force)

Blindfold, Hellion, Loa, Onyxx, Pixie III, Stepford Cuckoos, Surge IV (all X-Men students)

Aurora

Kyle (Northstar’s boyfriend)

Warwolves

Workmen

Fourth Story:

Cyclops, Gambit, Wolverine (all X-Men)

Pixie III (member of the X-Men students)

Mr Cho

Story Notes: 

First Story:

Jubilee was one of the few notable mutants depowered following “M-Day”, and later appeared as “Wondra” in the New Warriors (4th series).

Trance battled the phoney Ms Marvel (Moonstone) in X-Men Legacy #227.

Osborn tried to obliterate the X-Men and the other mutants during the “Utopia” crossover.

Jubilee was captured on Genosha during the classic “X-Tinction Agenda” crossover.

Genosha was destroyed in New X-Men (1st series) #115.

Storm was rendered powerless in Uncanny X-Men #185, and battled Cyclops for leadership in Uncanny X-Men #201, beating him. She later regained her powers during the “Fall of the Mutants”. She was originally made leader of the X-Men in Uncanny X-Men #139 after Cyclops left the team.

Second Story:

Quentin Quire was obsessed with Sophie of the Stepford Cuckoos. He departed to a higher plane of existence in the Phoenix: Warsong mini-series.

The Beast left Utopia in Uncanny X-Men #519.

Third Story:

LDR stands for Long Distance Relationship.

The Warwolves last appeared in the New Excalibur series.

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