The Jean Grey School for gifted Youngsters:
'Bobby? Bobby? Did you hear me?' Storm asks. 'Are you all right?' the Beast asks his friend while the She-Hulk sits at a desk nearby. 'You know what we X-Men are really good at? We're really good at keeping ourselves super busy so we don't have time to mourn our losses. Charles Xavier is gone. Charles Xavier. And we sit in the house he built for us and we just keep on keeping on. We....' Bobby's voice trails off as he gets up and leaves the room. An instant later, he exits the campus on an ice-slide that extends up into the air.
'So, um, as I was saying... Scott Summers. Do you guys happen to know where he is?' She-Hulk asks the others. 'I do' a voice calls out. 'Henry? You do? Since when?' Storm asks, shocked. 'Of course I do, Ororo. I have mutant-finding Cerebro technology that I helped invent. I calibrated it to look for people who were hiding from it. He can hide from the world but he can't hide from me' the Beast declares. Storm reminds the Beast that Cyclops is a fugitive from justice and at least partly responsible for the murder of Charles Xavier. She tells the Beast that he hates him now, he has made it abundantly clear. 'And now you tell me you know where he is and you never did anything about it or told us because...' Storm's voice trails off.
'...because I don't want to look at him. I don't want any more of my life dictated by the actions of that man' the Beast explains, adding 'I don't want my life to be his life'. Storm goes silent, and the Beast stops talking, before asking 'Is that so hard to understand? Do any of you – do you have anyone in your life like that, Ms Walters?' he asks the She-Hulk. 'Do you have someone in your life that you just do not want?'
'I don't know...' She-Hulk starts to reply, before Firestar and Nightcrawler enter the office. 'Hey, guys, what's going on? Where'd Bobby go?' Firestar asks. 'And what is this tall, green, lovely vision doing here?' Nightcrawler enquires as he goes over to She-Hulk and kisses her hand. 'Oh, Kurt, you say that to all the Hulks' She-Hulk jokes. Storm asks the others if they were aware that the Beast knows where Cyclops's secret mutant training camp is. 'I was. But I'm psychic and I'm nosy' Rachel Grey admits as she enters the room. 'Oh. That's – you have Xavier's will' Rachel remarks as she sees She-Hulk, who replies 'Please don't read my mind, Miss Summers'. 'Xavier's will? What does it say?' Nightcrawler enquires. She-Hulk announces that she hasn't read it yet. 'But it stipulates that the following people be present...' she begins, while Firestar asks 'What could be in it?'
'Wolverine owns the school property' Storm announces. 'Actually, that ain't true' Wolverine reveals as he appears, standing in the doorway, can of beer in hand. 'Logan. Where have you been?' Storm asks. 'Where I go' Wolverine responds. 'What do you mean? You no longer own the property to the school?' the Beast asks. Wolverine explains that it happened a while back, when he wasn't so sure things were going his way, he signed it all back over to Xavier – just in case.
'And in that document – that will tell us who owns the school now?' Nightcrawler enquires. 'Goddess. It's Scott. Scott owns the school now' Storm utters. 'What?' Firestar asks. Storm explains that Xavier could never imagine that Cyclops, his first and brightest student, a virtual son, would be the man who killed him. 'Scott Summers killed Charles Xavier?' a horrified She-Hulk asks. Rachel tells her that it is complicated. 'No. It's not' the Beast frowns, while Rachel explains that Cyclops wasn't in control of himself – the Phoenix possessed him. 'I did not know that' She-Hulk admits. 'I still do not believe it' Nightcrawler remarks, 'And neither would Charles. He left the school to him. I guarantee it' Storm declares, while Firestar asks 'What does that mean for us?' Wolverine crushes the can of beer he has been drinking and announces that it means they are going to settle this thing with Summers once and for all.
She-Hulk gets to her feet and declares 'You are all, if I may, you are all presuming a lot. Get him here' She tells them to get all of the X-Men here, then they can read this and deal with the facts as they are. 'Just open the damn thing' Wolverine snarls, reaching out for the will, which She-Hulk pulls away from him. 'It's a dead man's wish, Logan' She-Hulk points out. The Beast frowns and announces that he will get Cyclops. 'So where is he?' Wolverine asks. 'He's in the old Weapon X facility' the Beast reveals. 'What?' Wolverine asks. 'In Northern Canada. Where you were made' the Beast explains. 'Last place I'd look. Son of a bitch is good' Wolverine smirks. 'I'm coming with. Anyone else?' Storm calls out. 'Me. Let's go. Let's get this over with' Iceman frowns as he re-enters the office.
Meanwhile, in Newberry, South Carolina, a red-haired man stands in a large crater as dust settles around him. Everything in a large circular radius has been destroyed – except for him. He stands wide-eyed, then look at his hands. He holds one hand out as if using some great power – but nothing happens. He looks at his hand again, then turns to some debris, where a can of spaghetti can be seen. He holds his hand out towards the can, but nothing happens again. 'I... I don't understand...' he utters to himself.
'What's your name?' a voice calls out. 'What – what is this?' the red-haired man asks as he looks up and sees a holographic projection of a woman's head, projected via some sort of high-tech device that has driven towards him. The woman introduces herself as Maria Hill, Commander of SHIELD. 'Do you know what that is? Do you understand me?' Hill enquires. 'Y-yes' the man replies. 'Who am I speaking to?' Maria asks again. 'You're – you're a robot?' the man asks. 'No. I'm a human person, but I'm speaking to you from a remote location. For safety reasons' Maria explains. 'And you are?' she asks once more. The man introduces himself as Matthew Molloy, to which Maria asks him if he created this situation. 'Situation?' Matthew asks, confused. 'Did you make this mess?' Maria enquires.
Matthew stands in the middle of the crater still and replies that he doesn't know. 'If you had to guess...' Maria begins. 'How – how could I have?' Matthew asks her. 'Do you have – are you a power?' Maria enquires. 'A power?' Matthew asks, shocked. 'Are you a mutant?' Maria asks. 'What is happening? What is happening?' Matthew shouts, putting his hands over his face. Maria tells Matthew that she needs him to calm down, she needs him to get a hold of himself. 'You're not in trouble, I just want to talk -' Maria assures Matthew, who puts his hands over his ears and asks 'Did I kill these people? There were people!' Maria asks him if he has done anything like this before, to which a wide-eyed Matthew shouts 'What did I do? What is happening to me?' 'Move in' Maria orders, and Matthew turns around to see several heavily-armored SHIELD agents moving down the crater towards him. Maria tells Matthew that it would be wonderful if he would calmly sit down, but Matthew just goes wide-eyed once more, and again energy crackles from him and whips around the open space, striking each of the SHIELD agents. In her control center, Maria sees this on monitors, which all suddenly go dead with static. 'Uh-oh' Maria utters. 'We just lost all the agents on the ground!' a SHIELD officer calls out. 'All life signs are gone' another remarks. 'What am I?' Matthew wonders, looking at his hands.
The New Xavier School, where the Blackbird descends. 'Is that who I think it is?' the Iceman from the past asks as he looks up. 'Yes' Mindee Cuckoo tells him. 'Oh my stars and garters...' the Beast from the past utters. 'I thought they didn't know we were here' Marvel Girl remarks to Emma Frost, who replies 'It seems that was wishful thinking, Miss Grey...'
The ramp to the Blackbird opens and Storm, Iceman and the Beast appear. 'Sorry to intrude. But some of you are needed back at Westchester...' the Beast begins. 'It's important' Storm announces. Mindee, the past Beast and Iceman, Magik, Benjamin Deeds, Kitty Pryde, Phoebe, the past Marvel Girl, Emma Frost, Celeste, Dazzler, Hijack, Tempus, Goldballs and Triage stare back, before Dazzler, sporting her new punk look with short spiked black hair, a blue star over one eye and a torn, dark costume, folds her arms and frowns: 'So, you... found us'.
Inside the compound, 'Scott...' a voice calls out to Cyclops, who is sleeping in his quarters. 'Who is it?' Cyclops asks, sitting up in bed. 'It's me, Scott. Calm down' Storm tells him.Cyclops is surprised to see Storm, and he sits up, he finds Iceman, the Beast, Dazzler and Emma in his doorway. 'Nice place you got here' Storm remarks. 'Did you ironically put yourself in jail? Or subconsciously?' Iceman enquires. 'Subconsciously' the Beast remarks, before telling Cyclops that he probably wants to know what they are doing here. 'Get dressed, “Slim”. We'll be waiting outside'.
Shortly, Cyclops is dressed in his uniform, and stands with Kitty, Emma, Magik and Dazzler, while the students all stand behind them. 'I don't want any part of this' Cyclops states. 'You need to be there for the reading. All of you' Storm tells the other X-Men. 'Well, the ones of you we know' Iceman adds. 'I don't want anything from – I won't accept whatever he left me' Cyclops declares. 'How big of you' the Beast mutters, to which Cyclops frowns and tells the Beast that this would be in terrible taste, even for him.
Magik announces that she has already teleported back and forth to the Jean Grey School and states that She-Hulk is sitting there playing a game on her phone. 'It was off-puting' she remarks.
Marvel Girl tells the others that she can read their minds, and that it's not a trick. 'And they don't like you anymore' she adds.
The Beast frowns and motions to the ramp to the Blackbird. 'The old man's final request. We will gladly give you all a lift' he snaps. Cyclops frowns and replies that they will find their own way, adding 'I appreciate you making the trip out here'. The Beast, Storm and Iceman turn in silence and climb back into the Blackbird. Cyclops watches them leave, while, inside at the controls, Wolverine stares out the window and scowls at Cyclops, who stares back, 'Hold on, Illyana... they just waltzed in here, didn't they?' Cyclops remarks to his team. Marvel Girl announces that she would like to be there, too. 'As would I...' the Beast begins, while Celeste declares that she would pay money to watch this. 'No. Please respect my wishes on this. The students stay' Cyclops responds. Emma puts a hand on Scott's shoulder and tells him that she will go for him, that he doesn't have to do this.
'You know he left me the Jean Grey School, Emma. What am I supposed to do with it?' Cyclops asks. Magik turns to Kitty and remarks that this is going to be profoundly unpleasant. 'Or maybe this is that one time in the history of our history where everything is just chill and low key and -' Kitty starts to reply, until Magik says, 'Kitty, please'. 'I know. I couldn't even finish the sentence' Kitty sighs.
'Illyana...if you will...' Cyclops calls out, and Magik follows by casting her teleportation disk around Cyclops, Emma, Dazzler, Kitty and herself. They are gone within an instant. 'What if it's a trap and they never come back?' Hijack asks the other students. 'We'll have to repopulate the mutant race through procreation' Celeste replies. 'So let's all get to work' she tells the others. 'You guys are scaring me' Goldballs utters.
The Jean Grey School:
She-Hulk stands up and starts to read the will: 'I, Chalres Francis Xavier, of the town of Salem Center, County of Westchester and state of New York, being of sound mind and memory, do hereby make, publish and declare this to be my last will and testament, hereby revoking all wills and codicils previously made by me. I declare that I am married as of the date of this will and that my wife's name is Raven Darkholme. I further declare that I have -'
She-Hulk is interrupted by blank expressions from the X-Men assembled before her – Firestar, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Magik, Emma Frost, Kitty Pryde, Dazzler, Beast, Wolverine, Rachel Grey, Storm and Iceman – and Kitty exclaims 'Wait, what?' while Emma grins.
'Raven Darkholme... Raven Darkholme...how do I know that name?' She-Hulk asks. Emma bursts into hysterical laughter and exclaims that this is fantastic. 'Emma...' Cyclops begins, while Emma covers her eyes and declares that this is the best thing she has ever heard. 'Oh my god' she laughs. 'He married Mystique!' 'Oh, my God...' Dazzler remarks. 'Is this real?' Kitty asks. 'Wait, what is that?' the Beast asks, referring to a small token with the will.
'Yes, this was in with the will. What is this?' She-Hulk asks, holding the small device up. The Beast examines the device that She-Hulk puts down on the desk, and Iceman enquires 'What does that mean for us that he married Mystique?' Beast tells him to hold on, as the device is something. 'What is it?' Nightrawler asks. The Beast reports that he has seen it before, and that it is Shi'ar. He then presses the button, and a projection of Charles Xavier appears. He addresses his X-Men and remarks that if they are watching this, tthen he has passed on. He tells them to know that he whole-heartedly believes that he has lived his life in the best way possible, having dedicated so much of it to making sure that their people will see a better day. He adds that having his home filled with their love and courage has been a life well spent. 'I truly love you all. But as you all know, there have been moments of compromise that we have had to make. For me, one such compromise involves a mutant...' Xavier's voice trails off.
The projection of Xavier continues, explaining that the mutant is so powerful that their very existence threatened their way of life and any chance they would have had for a peaceful coexistence between mutants and humans. Both groups of X-Men listen, wide-eyed, as Xavier begins to say 'Now that I am gone, I have no choice but to leave this for you to handle...the story of how this came to be and what you now need to do is my darkest secret...'
