Twenty miles outside the town of Merle, Alaska, stands a giant factory area. The chief of police, a small, brown-skinned woman with a long braid, parks outside and rings the doorbell. She introduces herself as Paula Robbins. She is here to see Scott Summers. The other party reacts enthusiastically and buzzes her in.
Chief Robbins has a scare when she sees Beast, who asks her in and introduces himself as the base director. She apologizes for her reaction and he tells her to think nothing of it. He is used to it by now.
Paula Robbins explains that Scott Summers invited her to come and see what they have been doing here, once the town calmed down after, well, you know. Is he around? Beast explains that, as commander, Cyclops had to take the team into the field. Sounds dangerous, she states. He assures her it is. But Scott Summers is the most gifted combat leader he has ever known - and he used to be an Avenger!
Over the ocean and the coast of Santo Marco, the Marauder is fired at by a fortress and, at the very least, Kid Omega has a very different opinion of Cyclops’ tactical skills. He curses him and shouts he should never have joined his *%&$ team!
While Psylocke tries to telepathically distract their attackers, Cyclops calmly replies that Quentin has died more than any other mutant. He should be used to this by now. He calls for the assault team to get ready.
Said assault team - consisting of Magik and Juggernaut - has hit a snag though. As a bemused Idie Okonkwo aka Temper watches them, Magik and Juggernaut can’t agree on who goes in first, so they have tried to settle it with Rock Paper Scissors. Problem being, both insist on always taking rock, since any other option would be for wimps. When Cyclops becomes impatient, they compromise on attacking at the same time.
Magik teleports them down and they attack their foes on the ground from the air.
Cyclops orders Quentin to execute all designated targets on his mark. He’s working on it, Quentin whines. Cyclops reminds him he is an omega level telepath, so act like it!
Cyclops gives the order and the men on the ground – apparently members of Orchis - are telepathically attacked by Quentin.
Psylocke engages the autopilot and warns Cyclops to move swiftly. He orders her to give them a distraction and Quentin to fire up the telepathic comms. Idie plays with the temperature and the jet fires ice and snow at their foes.
Juggernaut lets the team know that any air defense is down, and the rest of the team jumps down from the Marauder. Let’s get their people, Cyclops orders.
Back at the Factory, Beast continues his tour, showing Paula Robbins their hydroponics, where they are growing fresh produce, thanks to the talents of Glob Herman. Glob waves and Paula looks shocked again, which Beast mildly points out. He stresses that they were all born different but want to live and thrive in the world. Not unlike the garden here in the face of the Alaskan cold.
Fresh produce, she mutters astonished and explains there is some talk in town about what the X-Men are up to here. There are some hard feelings. A lot of people made their livelihoods here before the factory shut down. A sentiment they are not unaware of, Beast responds sadly, even as Paula adds that the town are grateful for what the X-Men have done for them. It’s just that times have been hard since the manufacturing stopped and the jobs have gone away. Beast supposes so, but “manufacturing” is a bit of a disingenuous wordplay, is it not? This is where her people built Sentinels!
Santo Marco:
Within the fortress, Wolverine hangs, crucified to a giant X. Hearing the booming noises from outside, he warns the Orchis members in the beekeeper outfits, those are the X-Men. They are coming for him. Panicked, one of the Orchis members orders him to shut up. There is no way they could know he is here. They searched him for transponders and he is not psychic. Wolverine chuckles that he doesn’t have to be psychic. But Jean Grey? Emma Frost? Quentin Quire? The Stepford Cuckoos? He’s been thinking pretty loud and it looks like one of them had their ears on.
Indeed, using her psychic knife, Psylocke has drawn the info from an Orchis member she is currently threatening. She tells Quentin to spread the intel to the rest of the team but warns him not to dig any further into her mind. Quentin does as told and wonders why the Orchis clowns are wearing an X-symbol on their beekeeper outfits.
Did he seriously sleep through another briefing? Temper asks annoyed. It’s like the Jean Grey School days all over again! Telekinetically getting rid of an Orchis member, he defends himself, noting he used to do a lot of Kick. His memory isn’t what it used to be.
Psylocke races into a building, announcing she is going to save Logan. They can rendezvous when they’ve found the new mutants. And someone please catch Quire up!
While brutally hitting Orchis members, Juggernaut does as told, explaining this is the Orchis remnant “Fourth School.” After the AI betrayed the human parts of Orchis, Fourth School spread like crazy through what was left. A mishmash of Orchis science, propaganda and half-baked John Sublime U-Men memes.
Blasting several Orchis members, Cyclops tells Juggernaut he is proud of him. Teacher’s pet! Magik hisses. Brat! he shoots back.
Idie, also joining the battle, continues that the Fourth School believes that the third species predicted by John Sublime is actually A.I. – and so they need to become the fourth species: a mix of A.I., human and mutant. The good news is, they no longer hate mutants. The bad news is they want to become mutants by consuming them.
Quentin creates a shield off which Cyclops’ blast bounces, hitting two Fourth School members. Quentin chuckles that when he kicked the *$%& out of U-Men at Xavier’s school, Summers was all up in his grill. Look at them now - he wins! Unfazed, Cyclops agrees to meet him halfway.
The battle over, he continues, since it seems to amuse Quentin having him repeat things he already knows: three days ago they picked up six new pings via Cerebro. Six new mutants. Here.
They enter the building as Cyclops continues. Wolverine was in the vicinity, so Scott asked him to investigate. Then, they received his psychic distress call. And now they are getting them all back, he promises calmly.
Back at the Factory:
Paula Robbins looks down ashamed and admits Beast is not wrong. She didn’t like that the town industry was building murder robots, and a lot of people thought the same. But now she has a town with a lot of folks who have no jobs who had hope that the factory would open up again someday, which very obviously is not going to happen now. First Orchis automated it, then the Avengers smashed it, and now…
Beast interrupts that he understands. The town and the X-Men are neighbors. She is trying to keep the peace. He asks how she takes her coffee. She admits to having a sweet tooth. Had he known, he would have prepared his famous babka. Taking the coffee, she suggests he visit the diner some time and try the cherry pie. It’s a date, he promises.
They continue the tour and Paula summarizes, they grow food and run rescue missions. Why here? This isn’t the easiest place in the world to grow food and travel from. He explains that they are trying to build a life in a place that was good for nothing but death. Sentinels built here had a hand in the burning of Mykines. Mutants had an Eden, Hank stresses, and it was taken from them. And so now they must find their place in the world all over again, and ever have refugees had to settle for the broken and unwanted places in the world.
Paula apologizes. She hadn’t thought of it that way. This factory must be a far cry from Krakoa. Hank grimly admits he wouldn’t know. Paula is understandably confused. He changes the subject by stating this is too complex for the burgeoning stage of what he hopes is a friendship. At this stage, he’ll leave it at “for my sins.”
Santo Marco:
Inside the fortress, one of the Fourth School members orders another to guard Wolverine, while the others carry something out of the room. A moment later, he finds himself alone with Psylocke.
In another part of the building, Quentin asks Idie why she is playing good soldier. How many times have Cyclops and the X-Men failed her? She retorts that is why she is here – she is not going to let the X-Men fail anyone else!
As she attacks the Sentinel, who is in turn are assaulting Quentin, she snarks she didn’t see her ex-boyfriend come to her rescue when they threw her into the Pit on Krakoa. He was off doing war crimes with X-Force! It was complicated, he weakly defends himself. Heads up, lovebirds! Juggernaut shouts as he protects them from another Sentinel. Trouble in paradise? he chuckles and is ordered to shut up.
The fight momentarily over, Cyclops announces that Quentin is right. He did fail Idie. But she is right too. That’s why he asked her to be on this team.
Juggernaut remarks that they’ve run out of robots and guys. Cyclops announces they need to find their mutants and meet up with— With Logan, the man himself states as, supported by Psylocke, he comes out, his healing factor still knitting him together.
Quentin gets a psychic alert from the Marauder: there are incoming bombers on the way. Local military, Cyclops replies and orders him to scan for the new mutants. Quentin can’t find any kids, only adults. As if on cue, several Fourth School members break through the ceiling to attack.
The Factory:
Beast introduces Chief Robbins to their healer, Xorn, who notes she is taking in his unusual appearance better than most. She had some practice, she replies wryly.
Beast explains that he doesn’t want her to think that the heteromorphic types are restricted to the Factory but Xorn’s power is to heal and Beast’s strengths have never been his powers. And the slime kid? Paula asks. Beast shrugs, stating Glob’s power is useless. They are free to pursue their interests, while their more martial brethren act in a more kinetic fashion. The X-Men are not hiding their monsters, whatever she may think.
Is he quite certain about that? a new voice challenges. But then perhaps their greatest monsters appear not so different from the humans… It is Magneto, dressed in a leisure suit (though still in his red and purple colors) and helmet, sitting in a floating wheelchair. Beast greets him as Max and explains he was just showing the chief of police their little creation.
Magneto calmly observes she is going for her gun Why is that, does he think? he asks sardonically. Because he is scaring her, Beast retorts. As was his intent. If he didn’t know better, he’d say provocation was his mutant gift. Is he so frightening? Magneto inquires. As someone who spent the better part of his teenage years worrying about Magneto murdering him, yes, Hank replies. And look what a brilliant creature he has become, Magneto points out. What all of them have become! It was fear of him that honed Scott into a leader, that made Jean strong enough to wield cosmic power, gave Warren the strength to survive Apocalypse, gave Robert the strength to discover his omega potential. Charles gave them steel, but he tempered it! He was what they needed him to be.
And what do they need him to be now? Paula challenges. Now he is the dragon, he replies. Henry has a soft touch. He makes her tea, shows her Herman’s gardens, Xorn’s healing; he puts her at ease. He wants her to go and tell all the other humans that the X-Men are friends, that they have nothing to fear. Magneto is here, so she can tell them his side. He is Magneto. He has never been friendly and he is to be feared. These are his children of the atom, and they will be allowed to thrive!
Santo Marco:
The X-Men are under the attack of the Fourth School members, displaying various mutant powers. During the battle, Psylocke (while fending off a foe who projects forcefields) tells Cyclops that their attackers are the mutants they came for. Wolverine, unable to slash a speedster, protests that is impossible for six adults to manifest mutant powers at the same time.
Quentin scans and shouts they are not Frankenstein creatures but real mutants. A moment later, one of them attacks his mind. Juggernaut wonders who activates as adults, as he hits a foe who isn’t fazed by his blow, as he replies, they do! The game has changed!
So where are they on saving them? Magik asks.
Cyclops reasons with one of them. If they are mutants, they have more reasons to be friends than enemies. They need not fight! However, the six, displaying various powers, make it clear they are not interested in mutant solidarity.
Magik is fed up and teleports next to one, attacking him with her soulsword. She cuts off his arm and soon the tide changes.
Watching the battle from some distance are two mysterious persons. The woman calls the Fourth School paper tigers, but they lucked out on the genetic material the Fourth School had to offer. Six viables. 3K hasn’t had such a string of successes, since they began the Great Work. Calling her “mother,” the other person asks if the Fourth School can defeat the X-Men. No, the woman replies. Those six were all hired as terrorists, but they are too new in their powers. Already, the X-Men are winning.
Since the Fourth School reneged on their payment – Wolverine – she is inclined to repossess the protocols of all their hard work. The six Fourth School members are suddenly teleported out or disintegrated. Cyclops orders his team to get out of there, before the bombs hit and asks Illyana to bring the arm she cut off.
Soon, they arrive back at the Factory. A displeased Wolverine asks what they did that for. For them, for their people, Cyclops insists. Logan sighs if he doesn’t ever get tired of losing the civilization game. Because after Krakoa, after the way the world turned on them again… he’s done. He can’t do it anymore. Cyclops urges he can’t give up. He isn’t giving up, Logan replies, or maybe he is giving up the parts that don’t work! Maybe he should never have left the woods. That life he understood. He orders Cyclops not to come after him, as he leaves.
Magneto and Beast join Scott. Beast asks where Logan is heading to. Cyclops ventures, the US-Canada border. Magneto asks about the young mutants. A mystery, he is told. They were new but not young. Cyclops tosses Hank the frozen arm of one of them who had a pet black hole. Look at that and tell him how six adult Orchis Fourth School agents manifested mutant powers at the same time.
Quentin comes out of the Marauder. Yoyo, what up, professor M? he greets Magneto, who expresses his hope Quentin will die on a mission soon.
Later, Scott and Hank are on the rooftop and Hank tells him of Paula Robbins’ visit. Scott asks how it went. Hank describes how he did an extraordinary job putting her at ease, and then Max came doing what he does. But he thinks she left mostly favorably inclined toward them. Good, Cyclops decides. They are vulnerable here until they normalize relations with the town. Speaking of the town, Beast is ready to start stripping that thing for parts if Scott lends him Illyana, Cain and Quentin. Not yet, Scott announces. He wants to be sure they don’t forget what they owe the X-Men.
They refer to the lumbering giant Sentinel standing frozen over the town.
Elsewhere:
Four individuals sit around a round table in the shadows, their faces obscured, each at the end of an X-shape.
The zealot (a bald person) announces this is what they said. Fourth School is a waste of their time and resources. The Great Work will not be accomplished with allies such as these!
The doctor (a woman with her hair in a bun atop her head) replies she agrees politically and militarily. But they netted six viables from the subjects Fourth School offered. Call it luck if they want, but 3K has benefitted from their relationship with Fourth School. Which means the Great Work has benefitted.
The Means replies strictly, the Great Work is not benefitting from interference. These X-Men need handling sooner rather than later!
And the Chairman (an individual who seems to be wearing a helmet) cautions patience. They are constructing a magnum opus. Preparing a crucible from which a new world will be born. A great work sisi never a quick one. And their work is great indeed…
