X-Men: Blue #32

Issue Date: 
September 2018
Story Title: 
Kings and Queens, part 2
Staff: 

Cullen Bunn (writer), Andres Genolet (artist), Matt Milla (colorist), Virtual Calligraphy's Joe Caramagna (letterer), RB Silva & Rain Beredo (cover artists), Jay Bowen & Anthony Gambino (graphic designers), Chris Robinson (assistant editor), Darren Shan (editor), Jordan D White (X-Men group editor), CB Cebulski (editor-in-chief), Joe Quesada (chief creative officer), Dan Buckley (publisher), Alan Fine (executive producer)
X-Men created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby

Brief Description: 

Magneto is unleashing chaos in Paris, putting civilians in danger. The time-displaced X-Men try to speak with him, while protecting Emma Frost from his wrath. Magneto feels betrayed by the X-Men, who departed for space, when he needed them, when their enemies were looming. He easily defends himself from their attacks, and manages to trap Emma Frost, who is in her diamond form, in a steel cable, and even cracks her diamond-hard skin. The Beast realizes Magneto has a weak spot, and Marvel Girl uses her powers to find it, she then guides Cyclops' optic power, and together, they bring Magneto down. The other X-Men attack him, too – making sure he is down. However, he's not, and lashes out, more enraged, warning the X-Men that he has seen the future, and that there is no chance for Emma Frost. Pickles the Bamf then teleports in and rescues Emma. Marvel Girl tries to talk Magneto down from harming the civilians, and the Beast decides that he needs to use his magic to intervene, but Magneto knocks him out. Bloodstorm rescues Angel when a building collapses towards him, and Magneto understands that Marvel Girl won't stop until he has released the civilians that he has locked in his power. He doesn't want to see herself offered up for him. He mentions that he used the time platform, but before he reveals what it is he saw, he flies away. The X-Men regroup in a cabin in the woods, where Emma is unhappy about the situation. She tells the X-Men again that she doesn't need their help, to which Marvel Girl tells Emma that once they are gone the X-Men are going to need both her – and Magneto.

Full Summary: 

Then:
'You stand against the miraculous power of Magneto – the Master of Magnetism! You stand against the dominion of the mutant race! Not all those with mutant powers are fit to rule the Earth! You must be destroyed!' Magneto calls out as he easily destroys tanks and other military vehicles.

'Watch those flames, Beast! They're so intense, they'll burn the hair from out furry toes!  Angel warns Beast as he flies clear of some flames. 'Don't worry about me, pal! Just keep dodging those missiles!' the Beast calls back as several missiles soar past them. Cyclops uses his optic blasts to destroy the missiles as fast as he can, while Iceman is on an ice-sled, and uses his powers to freeze the missiles, too. Marvel Girl is on a platform nearby and catches some of the missiles with her telekinesis, and tosses them into the sea. 'But this is all a distraction! If we don't stop Magneto now – we may never stop him!' Marvel Girl fears.

Now:
'Magneto, what do you think you're doing? There are innocent people out here! Stop this!' Jean Grey a.k.a. Marvel Girl shouts as Magneto hovers over a street in Paris, France, causing destruction, as civilians run for safety. Marvel Girl and her fellow time-displaced X-Men – Scott Summers a.k.a. Cyclops, Bobby Drake a.k.a. Iceman, Hank McCoy a.k.a. Beast and Warren Worthington a.k.a. Angel, along with the reality-lost Bloodstorm, prepare to face Magneto, as Cyclops fires an optic blast towards him, while Bloodstorm readies some lightning. Angel flies nearby Magneto, the Beast leaps into the air, and Iceman shifts to a bulky form as he stands over Emma Frost, protecting her.

'Are they any more innocent than the people the White Queen has murdered?' Magneto asks, instructing the X-Men to surrender her to him, threatening to rip this city apart to see the White Queen answer for her crimes. 'I think maybe – ow – he means it' Bobby remarks as a piece of metal falls onto his back. 'Then maybe you should turn your powers against him, you nitwit!' Emma snaps.

Marvel Girl tells Magneto that they don't want to fight, and asks him to power down, adding that this is all a misunderstanding. Bloodstorm moves closer to Magneto and tells him that Jean speaks the truth, that Emma helped them defeat Mothervine. 'Does this perfunctory change of heart grant her clemency, Bloodstorm?' Magneto asks, pointing out that the White Queen turned against her own kind, and because of her, mutants suffered.

'This is it! This is what we expected... what we prepared for!' Cyclops calls out. 'Prepared?' Magneto asks. 'You were meant to stand against the very woman you now protect. You were supposed to prepare yourselves to stand in defense of mutants. But for me... for this?' Magneto seethes. 'Nothing could prepare you for this!' he shouts as he expends more power, scraps of metal appear around him, and civilians continue to run for their lives. Cyclops shields himself as some of the debris falls towards him. 'You turned your backs on the cause. You left this world behind them when Mothervine was launched. When mutants needed you most – you abandoned them!' Magneto shouts as he hurls steel beams towards Emma Frost, who begins to run  in her diamond form, and Bobby, who dodges the beams on an ice-sled.

'My father needed us! I couldn't just let him die!' Cyclops shouts at Magneto while firing another optic beam towards him. 'You were needed here! Mutants needed you! I needed you!' Magneto calls back.

Jean throws a telekinetic force field around herself and several frightened civilians as more steel beams fall towards them. 'We did what we thought was right! If we had known -' she begins, as Magneto interrupts her, 'You should have known... because I warned you!' he declares, reminding Marvel Girl that he hold her enemies of their people would soon strike. 'And now you protect one who has caused our people so much pain!'

'You're one to talk' Emma mutters, coming to a stop when steel cables burst up from the ground, and one of them wraps around her neck. 'I know what I am, Emma. You would have done well to remember' Magneto declares.

'Come on, Mags... I thought we were bros. But this is definitely un-bro-like!' Iceman exclaims as he slides over to Emma, and starts to freeze the cable that is strangling her, but before the cable becomes brittle enough to break, Magneto controls another cable, slamming it into Bobby and knocking him over.

Emma struggles to free herself, as Magneto remarks that he wishes Bobby could understand, and wishes they the X-Men knew what was going to happen to them. 'I wish you could know what I saw... what I did...' he utters.

'You can't choke me, Erik... not while I'm in... my diamond form...' Emma utters as she continues to try and free herself. Magneto informs Emma that he doesn't plan on strangling her, and that he didn't come here to play games. Emma looks worried as her diamond form begins to crack.

Beast and Cyclops take a moment to regroup, and Beast reports that Magneto is using Mutant Growth Hormone, that his powers are maxed out. 'We... we can't stop him. Can we?' Marvel Girl asks, nervously. 'Doesn't mean we're not going to try!' Angel exclaims as he swoops towards Magneto, blasting him with cosmic energy that emerges from Angel's wings – Magneto puts up a shield, but as the X-Men see, a portion of the cosmic flame burns Magneto's costume. 'His shields... they're not impervious... there are flaws... as in a diamond'. Beast turns to Jean and tells her that they can get through, that his force fields have weak spots, and that they just need to find them. 'On it!' Jean calls back as she wraps telekinetic bonds around Magneto, who tells Marvel Girl not to do this, as it will not work the way she thinks. 'Story of my life' Marvel Girl replies. Magneto struggles within the psychic energy of young Jean, and tells her that she cannot save the White Queen, not from him, not from what she has done.

Jean quickly informs Scott that she has found the weak spot. 'Take the shot! I'll guide you!' she calls out. Cyclops opens fire, and Marvel Girl guides the optic energy – straight into Magneto, who drops to the ground.

Marvel Girl tells Magneto that she is sorry about this, she really is, and informs her teammates that his shields are down, so they can take him. Bloodstorm and Angel fly towards Magneto and strike him with lightning and cosmic energy. 'It did not have to be this way' Magneto remarks. 'Yeah. It kinda did' Beast tells him as he kicks him in the face. 'Just stay down, man' Bobby tells Magneto as he shifts to his larger form and pushes him into the ground. The X-Men surround Magneto, 'We've got him' Jean tells them, while Bobby asks what they do with him. 'We'll figure it out, Iceman. For the moment, he is contained' Bloodstorm replies, while a concerned Emma, still trapped in the cable, tells the X-Men that he is not. Indeed, suddenly, energy bursts from Magneto, knocking the X-Men, cars and rubble into the air. 'FOOLS!' Magneto shouts, as Cyclops exclaims 'No – we won't let you -' but Magneto tells him that he cannot stop him, that he will not be denied. 'I have seen the future!' Magneto reminds the X-Men.

'This is the future for us! And we know it can change! We've seen it change!' Jean calls out. She tells Magneto that if it hasn't happened yet, then there is still a chance – but Magneto interrupts her: 'No, Jean. Not for her'. Magneto looks at Emma.

'Now, Jean! Do it!' Beast exclaims, as suddenly, the Bamf called Pickles materializes next to Emma. 'Get her out of here, Pickles!' Jean telepathically instructs the Bamf, who teleports Emma away, freeing her from the cable. 'A trick? You mean to stop me... with a trick?' Magneto asks, his eyes glowing, he lets the X-Men fall to the ground, while maintaining hold over the civilians, cars and debris that float around him.

 'Y'know, Jeannie... maybe you should have had Pickles teleport us all away' Bobby suggests. 'That would have been nice... but we're not done' Jean replies as she turns back to Magneto, telling him to let the civilians go, that this isn't him, that he doesn't want to hurt them. 'Wrong, Ms Grey' Magneto scowls. 'You don't want to hurt them' he points out, before demanding to know where the White Queen is, and then she might get her wish. 'Refuse me – and their blood is on your hands' Magneto warns Jean.

The Beast points out that Magneto is too strong, and tells Cyclops that if they are going to stop him, they will need something more than their mutant abilities. 'My magic -' Beast begins, but Cyclops tells him not to, reminding him that he doesn't know if he can control it. 'I don't have a choice -' Beast replies as he starts to cast a spell, causing his face to turn into the furry, white, horned creature that he becomes when using magic. 'But you do, Henry. Unlike me, you have nothing but choices ahead of you' Magneto tells the Beast. 'I'll not see you make this one – because of me' Magneto tells the Beast, knocking him out as he slams some rubble into his face. 'You killed him!' Cyclops shouts as the Beast falls motionless at his feet. Cyclops unleashes a powerful optic blast, but Magneto diverts it away from him and assures Cyclops that the Beast will live. 'I would spare every mutant, if I could save the White Queen. It pains me that you... in whom I saw the most potential... are beyond saving' Magneto announces as a steel cable bursts through the ground and knocks Cyclops over.

Angel flies up behind Magneto and announces that he knew trusting him was a mistake. 'It was you, Angel, who didn't want to stay in this world. And now you fight so fiercely. Who do you think will protect mutants when you return home?' Magneto asks. Angel doesn't get the chance to respond, as magnetic energy strikes the top of a nearby building, which begins to collapse towards him. 'Angel! I've got you! Goddess! I've got -' Bloodstorm utters as she leaps at Angel, pushing him to safety. Magneto turns to Angel and Bloodstorm and asks them to tell him what he wants to know, adding that it is the only way to help these “innocent” people.

Jean approaches Magneto and tells him that she knows what is in his head, reminding him that he let her in, let her see. 'I know what you are... and I know there's little chance of stopping you... but I'll be damned if I'm backing down!' Jean calls out as she attempts to attack Magneto with psychic energy again. 'I know you won't, child' Magneto replies. He looks at the civilians suspended in the air and tells Jean that for all her great power, her greatest strength is her perseverance, her willingness to sacrifice everything again and again. 'But I will not let you offer yourself up to me' Magneto frowns. He then drops to the ground, and lowers the civilians and rubble, too. Magneto walks towards Jean and points out that if they continue this fight, if neither of them backs down, then they both might die – and he cannot have that.

Magneto closes his eyes and remarks that when the White Queen and her allies attacked him, he killed mutants to save himself, he used the time-platform. 'And I saw -' Magneto begins. 'Magneto? You saw... what? What did you see?' Jean asks. But Magneto doesn't answer her – he walks past, then flies up into the sky without looking back. 

Sometime later, inside a small cabin in some woods, 'Well... this is simply dreary' Emma mutters, while touching the crack in her diamond-form, she tells the young X-Men that they realize that Magneto will find her, and that she has resources, has means, that there is no need to make her stay here. Cyclops tells Emma that they are not making her do anything – that she is free to go whenever she likes, before suggesting she takes a little time to heal. 'We can't promise you we'll be around to help you next time, though' he adds, informing her that their time here is growing short. 'I like you better when you're older' Emma tells him. Marvel Girl smiles and puts a hand on Emma's shoulder, suggesting she stay for a little while, then at some point, maybe, she and Magneto must work this out without killing each other. 'Scott's right, you know... once we're gone... the X-Men are going to need you both' Jean remarks, while, elsewhere, a stern-faced Magneto, wearing civilian clothing, strides down a busy street.

Characters Involved: 

Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman, Marvel Girl (all time-displaced original X-Men)
Bloodstorm II
Pickles

Magneto
White Queen

Civilians

in flashback:
Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman, Marvel Girl (all original X-Men)
Magneto

Story Notes: 

The time-displaced original X-Men left to rescue Corsair in X-Men Blue Annual #1, and spent some time in space, returning to Earth in the “Venomized” mini series.

Magneto was forced to kill Mothervine mutants in X-Men: Blue #27.

 

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