#braddock academy

[rei-ismyname]

Surviving childhood in the Marvel Universe

[spirallingout]

There are no good schools for superhuman kids in Marvel, none of them are safe.

Avengers Academy:

The original AA kids were tortured, lied to by their mentors & forced to be child soldiers. Half of them didn't even want to be there, Hank Pym promised to fix their broken powers and completely failed to help them in any way. And then they were kidnapped by Arcade for his Hunger Game. The new academy hasn't been around long enough to be properly judged but a Nazi bee man broke through security on day 1 so not looking good.

Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters:

Fifty-fifty chance you'll end up in a terrorist cell. Regardless, you'll end up a child soldier with zero privacy because most of the psychics (especially Charles) don't have any problem with reading your thoughts at any given moment. Half the teachers have been X-Force members and being a teenager won't stop you from becoming one either. Don't want to be a superhero? Just want to go to school? Fuck you. The worst super school by the widest of margins and I haven't even listed half the hazards.

Future Foundation:

Probably the safest one on this list but I'm subtracting points for making its students be in proximity to Reed Richards. I don't trust him not to run experiments on his own kids let alone anyone else's.

Pan Asian School for the Unusually Gifted:

Jimmy Woo is definitely using this place to recruit secret agents and Shou-Lou is racist to fox people.

Latverian Academy of Sciences:

It's weird that a school run by Doctor Doom is one of the safest on this list.

Braddock Academy:

Arcade also stole a bunch of their kids so they're also on the hook for child negligence. The Braddock's are also connected to the X-Men so there's a chance of getting dragged in to X-Men bullshit.

Strange Academy:

The staff let the students use extra dimensional portals to play tag and act surprised when the demons turn up? Also, maybe letting Magik send students to Limbo as a punishment will end badly. Just a thought.

[newx-menfan]

Seriously…imagine how AWESOME an entire comic of Teen Superheroes just competing against each other in basically the superhero olympics (without the whole murder world plot point) would have been…

[braddocklegacy]

“Welcome to Braddock Academy, hope you survive the experience.”

[wqintraining]

NEW X-MEN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - SEASON 1, EPISODE 12 (PART 1 OF 2)

We open in the institute as a panic ensues, older kids screaming about the front lawn being covered in bloody and body parts, while the younger students are running up to the teachers, afraid that they’re in danger. Dani, James, and the others assure them everything is okay, but they themselves don’t have any real idea what happened either. 

Julian and Sofia, in their boxers and pajamas, respectively, fly out of Julian’s room, trying to help contain the panic by restraining kids with their powers. Julian calls out that there’s nothing to worry about, and the X-Men are gonna figure out what’s going on here. 

SOFIA: “Your speech last night was wonderful, but you know we aren’t actually X-Men yet.” 

JULIAN: “Work for the job you want, right?” 

Cessily and Sooraya are still in their room, Sooraya shaking on the floor as she prays, while Cessily is curled up in a ball on her bed, calling Roxy to make sure she’s okay. 

CESSILY: “What…what is going on?” 

Storm, Kitty, Sunspot, and Wolverine step outside to examing the site closeup, all disturbed, but none of them phased. They quickly deduce from the remnants of the bodies that these were Purifers, and they all heard a screeching sound, but the younger members aren’t sure what that was. Storm, however, is aware, and she’s terrified - the Phoenix energy inside Jean has been unleashed. RIght now, she is a threat to herself, and a threat to the entire planet. 

Storm says they need Cyclops immediately, and asks Laura where he is. Laura sniffs the air. 

LAURA: “Emma’s room. With Emma. They stink of each other.” 

Kitty and Roberto are shocked, while Storm hangs her head. 

STORM: “Oh Scott…” 

We cut to Cyclops and Emma in bed together, their eyes glazed over as they remain catatonic. 

STORM: “...what have you done?” 

Cassandra Nova sits in her estate, sipping tea. As she sets her cup and saucer down, she grings. 

NOVA: “The Phoenix has lost control. Cyclops and the Queen are out of commission. Now…now is the time to strike. Now is the time, Charles, for the world you sought to build to burn.” 

We cut to a factory not unlike the one from last episode, but packed with ten times as many Sentinels. With a thought, Nova activates them all. Their order? Exterminate every Mutant on Earth. 

In the common area, the training squad and Roxy are gathered, Sofia on Julian’s lap, while Cessily and Roxy are holding hands. Sofia has her eyes closed, and everyone is looking at her in suspense. 

NORI: “Well?!” 

Everyone else shooshes her. 

ROXY: “Should we really be doing this? I don’t want to get involved with any of the stuff y’all do, okay?” 

Everyone else shooshes HER. 

ROXY: “Okay, new girl doesn’t get to talk. Got it.” 

From Sofia’s perspective, we hear the winds whispering in her ear. Eventually, Sofia’s eyes open and she takes a deep breath. 

Sofia tells them all it’s bad. From what Storm and the others are saying, it sounds like Mr. Summers cheated on Mrs. Summers with Ms. Frost, Jean found out, went fully Phoenix, and both did what they saw outside, and did *something* to Scott and Emma. 

Everyone is shocked by this, with Sooraya being the most disappointed in Cyclops. Julian commends Scott on trading up, only to get elbowed by Sofia. 

JULIAN, groaning: “He…still shouldn’t have cheated though. Obviously.” 

Cessily asks if Cyclops and Frost are okay, but Sofia isn’t sure. 

Noriko swears. This is really, really bad. They’ve all heard the stories about Jean before. 

Brian, looking at his phone, tells them with terror things are even worse than they think. 

Across the world, we see Sentinels flying over cities, hunting down, and killing every Mutant they find, and blowing away anything and anyone who stands in their way. The sequence ends with a Sentinel flying over a baseball field, where a visible Mutant is playing with his little league team, only to die in terror. 

In Emma’s room, the four remaining X-Men stand over Scott and Emma’s catatonic bodies, Kitty and Roberto watching what’s happening across the world in horror on the former’s phone. 

They’re undermanned and under siege, but Storm remains coolheaded as she takes charge of the situation. The teachers here may not want to be X-Men, but they’re all still heroes. In their time of crisis, she knows they can count on them. She will be organizing and dispatching them, as well as herself and Sunspot, across the globe to protect as many areas as they can, and put the Sentinels down as quickly as possible. 

Jean is just as immediate an issue, however, and one which needs to be addressed. Much as she loves Jean as a friend, regardless of what he’s done, she knows Scott is the only one who even has a chance of helping her get control of herself before she goes full Dark Phoenix. Fortunately, as far as waking Scott, “...and Emma, I suppose”, up, the X-Men have two other telepaths on call. Kitty says she’s been in touch with them, so she’ll go and grab them, which is exactly what Storm was planning on. Laura meanwhile is to stay here and defend the other students while everyone else is away. 

STORM: “Outside myself, you are the strongest fighter we have right now. I know you will not let anything happen to your friends.” 

Laura promises she won’t fail. Kitty heads out first, saying she’ll let them know as soon as she’s picked up Betsy and Rachel. 

LAURA: “Perfect…who are Betsy and Rachel?” 

We cut to the balcony of a castle, where two women are enjoying tea underneath a beautiful, flawless blue sky. One of them is a Japanese-British woman with purple hair in knight’s armor, dressed in the colors of Britain’s flag, while the other is a butch ginger in what looks to be a mage’s outfit. 

BETSY: “What do you think, Rachel? We spend Christmas with your family and then Boxing Day with mine?” 

RACHEL: “I was moreso thinking we spend Christmas Eve with mine, Christmas with your, and then have your fake British holiday to ourselves.” 

BESTSY: “Rude. But also impossible. I have appearances to make all day on Christmas Eve.” 

RACHEL: “Oh, to have your problems.” 

BETSY: “They’re your problems now, too, my love.” 

As Betsy takes Rachel’s hands, we see wedding rings on both of them. 

A loud roar draws the two women’s attention, though neither seems particularly bothered. 

RACHEL: “Speaking of problems…”

BETSY: “Shall we finish our drinks first?”

RACHEL: “Nah, should probably get to work.” 

BETSY: “Well alright then.” 

The two fly into the air, conjuring a psionic sword and shield and spell circles, respectively, and fly into battle against a massive hydra, the camera panning out to show they’re in a medieval fantasy realm. 

We cut to space, panning out away from Earth to show just how small and insignificant it is. It’s on a moon which clearly isn’t our own where we find Jean, sobbing as she grows plant life all around her, only to make it wither and die in an endless loop. It’s seemingly this god’s equivalent of taking breaths. 

Her solitude is partially broken as someone speaks to her telepathically. 

“Hello, Jean. It means a lot that you’d contact me at a time like this. I’ve missed you.” 

Jean sniffles. “I’ve missed you too…Professor.” 

Across the globe, in major cities, suburbs, and remote villages, Storm, Sunspot, Warpath, Dani, Karma, Nightcrawler, Beast, Dazzler, and Northstar do battle against the Sentinels. And they’re not alone. Iceman, Colossus, Archangel, Jubilee, Rogue, and Gambit are all briefly shown taking out the Sentinels who’ve come for them. 

Despite all of the X-Men’s victories, back in her estate, Nova watches news reports of them, continuing to smile with smug confidence. 

In the Institute’s foyer…

JULIAN: “Get out of my way, Laura!” 

Laura is guarding the front door, with Julian screaming right in her face, the rest of the training squad and Bling! watching. 

LAURA: “Right now, it’s Wolverine. And no. The X-Men are handling the situation.” 

JULIAN: “They can’t be everywhere, and I’m not about to just stand around and do nothing while a bunch of religious flatscan nutjobs kill us!” 

Laura tells him he’s not ready, only for Nori to speed over and tell her it wasn’t so long ago she was being told that, but going out to fight Sabretooth anyway. Besides, they haven’t sparred all together since before the Hellfire mission - that changed them. 

NORIKO: “We’re not ready to be X-Men. Duh. But right now, if we can even take out one Sentinel, it’s worth whatever it costs.” 

Laura continues to sneer at her friends. 

LAURA: “I’m not letting you get yourselves killed.” 

Sofia flies over. 

SOFIA: “Laura, we can–” 

LAURA, snapping: “Don’t! Not you.” 

Sofia is hurt by Laura getting aggressive toward her, but ends up glaring back at her. Refusing to back away, Hellion, Surge, and Wind Dancer stare Wolverine down. Without another word, they all can see what’s coming, with the three students wrapping their hands in TK energy, electricity, and wind respectively, while Wolverine pops out her claws. 

BLING!: “Are these crazies about to fight?” 

CESSILY: “What? No. Of course not. We’re passed that. Right, guys?” 

BRIAN: “Please, please don’t fight.” 

Sooraya sighs. “They’re going to fight.” 

We cut away as the battle begins. 

We cut to Otherworld, where Betsy and Rachel are dusting themselves off, standing next to the dead body of the hydra they just defeated. Rachel flirts with Betsy, asking if she wants to get home and take off that dirty armor, while Betsy teases her by questioning why slaying monsters always seems to put her in the mood. 

RACHEL: “Duh. Cause I love watching you work.” 

BETSY: “Please. Do you know how many times I’ve heard that line?” 

RACHEL: “No, but I don’t really want to hear about your old suitors.” 

Rachel puts her arms around Betsy, leaning in for a kiss. 

BETSY: “There are definitely better uses of our time.” 

Betsy leans in to kiss her wife, but before she can, the two hear a portal open above them, the Blackbird flying through. 

The two look up, questioning what the X-Men are doing here, only for the plane to park in midair, and for Kitty to phase through the floor of it, plumbeting from the sky. 

KITTY, with the biggest grin: “RACHEEEEEEL!” 

Rachel’s eyes light up as she dons a wide grin. 

RACHEL: “KITTY!” 

Rachel blasts off into the sky, leaving Betsy to literally eat her dust. 

BETSY, coughing: “No reason to ever be jealous of her, you said.” 

Rachel catches Kitty, the two hugging in mid-air. They’ve missed each other so much! It feels like only yesterday they were battling warwolves and dealing with obnoxious Omniversal Majestrixes. 

Kitty’s smile eventually fades though. Much as she wishes she could be here to hang, they have a big problem back on Earth and they need their help. 

Out in space, Jean laughs with a psychic projection of Xavier’s head, the former telling the latter about the time Surge stowed away on a mission. 

XAVIER: “It seems like every class since the first and best has only gotten more rebellious. I do not envy your position.” 

Jean sighs, unable to maintain the jolly mood. Jean asks how things are with Queen Lilandra, with Xavier admitting he’s never been happier. He loves her, and he’s even come to love living in the Shi’Ar Empire. Xavier, in turn, asks how things are with Scott. 

Phoenix energy surrounds Jean as she tenses up and struggles to not cry. 

JEAN: “See for yourself.” 

Xavier reads her mind and becomes enraged. Jean can hear him slamming his fist. 

XAVIER: “That stupid boy! What was he thinking?!” 

Jean doesn’t understand. What’s wrong with her? She thought she was perfect, she thought she was doing everything right as a wife and partner and leader, so why, WHY, would he do this to her?! 

JEAN: “I want to just blame Emma. I want to just call her a damn seductress and wipe every trace of her off the face of the Earth, and go back to normal. But I looked into their minds. I haven’t been the one on Scott’s mind for a long, long time.” 

Xavier sighs. 

XAVIER: “Cyclops is a great man. But he is still only a man. And all men are flawed. All men make mistakes, be they small or large. I thought I raised him better than this. Whatever flaws he possessed, I never believed he would do something this foolish.” 

JEAN: “Neither did I…what should I do, Professor?” 

XAVIER: “You are a goddess among men, Jean. While what Scott’s done goes far beyond any basic standards of decency, you will never be able to find anyone who meets standards as high as your own. You can either reject this notion, continue to try and live your best possible life as a normal woman, and set yourself up for future disappointments, or you can embrace what you are. That choice is entirely your own, but they’re the only choices you have.” 

Jean hangs her head, not helped at all. 

JEAN: “Professor…tell me about Cassandra Nova.” 

In the institute, Wolverine continues to stare down Hellion, Surge, and Wind Dancer, the other kids afraid of what’s about to happen. 

Julian makes the first move, launching a TK wave at her, but Laura jumps into the air, allowing the wave to blow up the front entrance. Cessily, Sooraya, Brian, and Roxy all run to take cover. 

Before Laura can hit Julian, she’s swept away in mid-air by Sofia’s winds. She sends Laura flying toward a wall, but Laura just manages to flip herself off the wall and land back on her feet. Laura gives them one last chance to stop this and go back to their rooms before she has to hurt them, only to be answered with a fist to the face from Surge, Laura clearly shocked that Noriko’s gotten fast enough to just hit her like that. 

Moving as a blur, Nori proceeds to land hit after hit on Laura, coming at her from all over the place, landing bodyblows and punches to the face. 

Laura is able to quickly catch onto Nori’s pattern though, and kicks her upside the head, but in the split second she takes to move, Julian puts a TK shield around Nori, causing Laura to end up sending herself flying back on impact. 

Still not knocked off her feet, Laura seethes. 

LAURA: “Fine.” 

Laura rushes Sofia. Surge, still shiedled, moves to intercept her, hoping to pull off the same trick, but instead of hitting her, Laura grabs her and throws her down onto the floor, smashing through the tiles. Nori is seemingly unable to get back up. 

The lookers-on panic at the sight of this, Cessily shouting at Brian to tag himself and make everyone run away, but Julian, barely shielding himself from Laura’s attacks, tells them to stay out of this. 

JULIAN: “Sofia, get her off me so I can focus!” 

Sofia tries to blow Laura away with her winds, but Wolverine plants her feet in the floor with her foot spikes as she grabs Julian, puts him in a hold, and starts repeatedly stabbing at his stomach. His shield will break soon, and while stabbing this spot won’t kill him, he’ll be permanently injured. 

Laura suddenly lets go of Julian though, stumbling back as she groans. 

LAURA: “What did you–? 

SOFIA: “I compressed the air in your ears and popped it. Ms. Frost taught me that trick. We’ve learned a lot by actually studying.” 

Sofia blows Laura outside and, with Julian free from Laura, he flies outside and up into the air, and hits her with all the TK energy he’s got to slam her down into the ground face first and hold her down. 

JULIAN: “That’s three tons of force, Laura! I can hear your bones cracking and healing! This is what I can do!” 

To Julian’s shock, Laura actually starts standing up, the former nervous as it’s clear he can’t keep up this type of attack for long. Before Laura can make too much progress, however, Sofia flies up next to Julian and presses down on her with her winds, sending her back to her knees. 

SOFIA: “Hold back a little. We’re partners now. We do this together.” 

The two hold hands, thinking they have this fight won, but as Laura flashes back to Dr. Sarah Kinney saving her, and Laura’s subsequent murder of her, she finds the strength to propel herself out of the range of Julian and Sofia’s attacks. The two try to hit her again, but she’s too fast, successfully making it to the school building and scaling it in seconds,  Julian and Sofia panicking because with the angle she’s put herself at, they can’t attack her without attacking the school. 

LAURA: “This ends now.” 

With a running start, Laura launches herself off the roof to take the couple out in mid-air…only to be shot down by an electrical blast. Laura falls to the ground, shaking from being tazed. 

Julian and Sofia look down and see Noriko, standing in what used to be the doorway, leaning against some rubble with her fingers pointed like a gun. 

NORIKO: “I don’t know what she broke…but that was for breaking it.” 

Noriko passes out. 

The Blackbird comes through a portal, arriving back in the institute’s hangar bay. Kitty, Rachel, and Betsy get out of the plane, with Rachel determined to give Cyclops a piece of her mind once she’s stitched his mind back up. 

RACHEL: “Do I HAVE to fix the White Queen too?” 

KITTY: “Only because we may need her. Far as I’m concerned, she should stay locked up in her head.” 

The three meet up back in Emma’s bedroom, where Storm and an injured Roberto are waiting to greet them. 

KITTY: “You alright there, Beto?” 

ROBERTO: “I’m just relieved none of those things touched my face. I wouldn’t be able to carry on if they had.” 

Wolverine arrives, injured, dazed, and still healing from her fight. Storm questions what happened to her. Laura just snarls. 

KITTY: “Well, we wanted a Wolverine…” 

Storm makes quick, proper introductions, introducing Laura to Betsy Braddock AKA Captain Britain, and Rachel Summers AKA Prestige: the defenders of the multiverse. 

LAURA: “Wait…Summers?” 

RACHEL: “Cyclops and Jean are my parents.” 

Laura just tilts her head in confusion. 

Betsy pats her on the back 

BETSY: “Time travel, honey. We’ll explain later.” 

With everyone assembled, Storm hands out new marching orders. Rachel is to stay here, fix Scott and Emma’s minds, get them up, and find and save Jean, and defend the school if necessary. Betsy meanwhile will join herself, Kitty, Sunspot, and Laura in taking on and stopping Cassandra Nova, Kitty having managed to track her down by triangulating where the Sentinels were coming from. 

STORM: “Failure is not an option. Our people do not die today. To me, my X-Men!” 

Storm flies out of the room, Kitty, Sunspot, and Captain Britain following behind her, but Laura stays behind for a moment, hesitating, before running out. 

Out in space…

XAVIER: “Cassandra Nova…” 

Jean explains what they know about her, what she’s done and been doing, and who she claims to be. 

JEAN: “Is it true?” 

Xavier admits that, yes, Nova is his twin sister. In a sense. Conceived without a body, Cassandra made one for herself by copying his DNA to make her own body. She grew with him until she had fully formed hands and eyes, when she decided to try to kill him by attempting to strangle him with his own umbilical cord. 

JEAN: “She was BORN evil?” 

Xavier hangs his head. He defended himself by hitting her with a psychic blast, which caused his mother to have a miscarriage, resulting in Nova’s physical body being stillborn. Despite this, she  survived as chaotic cellular matter that clung to a sewer wall for decades, rebuilding her physical form and perfecting her effort to mimic human traits. She convinced herself that the womb in which the two of them had fought and the universe she now lived in were the same, a universe where only the two of them were real, and so she sought to destroy everything he held dear to break him free of the delusions he treasured. 

XAVIER: “I thought I’d dealt with her permanently the last time we met. I was wrong.” 

Jean is shocked both that the Professor would have kept this all a secret from thtm, and that he’s implying he’d tried to kill her. Xavier shouts back that she of all people does not get to judge him. She’s seen her power firsthand; she needed to be stopped. 

XAVIER: “Listen to me right now, Jean. You must go to Genosha immediately. Listen to what’s happening on Earth right now. Magneto cannot defend the Mutant nation alone. He needs you.” 

Xavier shouts at Jean again and again as she doesn’t answer him. Then, she starts laughing. 

XAVIER: “Jean?” 

“Not quite.” 

Jean’s green costume turns blood red as a grin spreads across her face and her flames become more wild and out of control. 

DARK PHOENIX: “You and Scott. Both liars. Both hypocrites. Both treacherous.” 

XAVIER: “Jean, stop this!” 

From across the universe, Dark Phoenix cackles as she inflicts psychic agony on Xavier. 

DARK PHOENIX: “You were right about one thing though, Charles. I am a goddess. All living among mortals will ever do is bring me pain. So I will be leaving for Genosha. To burn it along with the rest of the Earth, before I regrow the planet with a new species I have no connections to.” 

Xavier is helpless to do anything but moan in pain as his psychic projection disappears, the full Dark Phoenix aura emerges around Jean, and she begins flying back toward Earth. 

Part one of the finale ends as we cut between Storm and the others loading onto the Blackbird, the Sentinels continuing their attack, Nova remaining calm in her estate, Magneto proudly standing over several dead Sentinels on Genosha’s shores, and Dark Phoenix heading for Earth. 

TO BE CONTINUED...

[comicwaren]

This week on Marvel Comics (29th March 2023):

Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain #002

Clobberin’ Time #001 (NEW!)

Daredevil Vol. 7 #009

Deadpool Vol. 9 #005

Invincible Iron Man Vol. 5 #004

It’s Jeff #001 (One-shot)

Sabretooth & the Exiles #005 (Finale)

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi - Jabba’s Palace #001 (One-shot)

Star Wars: The High Republic - The Blade #004 (Finale)

Star Wars: The High Republic Vol. 2 #007

Strange Academy: Finals #005

Thor Vol. 6 #032

X-Men: Unforgiven #001 (One-shot)

[kitausuret]

Written as a thank-you for a generous donor as part of the @marvelgotchaforgaza project! I had an absolute blast with the prompt. I played pretty fast and loose with it, but I hope you enjoy it!

Side note: I read probably 75% of Lunella's appearances for this, and also a thorough suffering read of the Red Goblin limited series. I also trudged through the most recent Excalibur and Captain Britain series, so never let it be said I don't do my research!

That said, Maggie is absolutely delightful and I really wanted Normie and Rascal to have a win. (:

Title: It Takes Two, or Three, or Four

Characters: Normie Osborn & Rascal (Symbiote), Lunella Lafayette, Brian Braddock/Meggan Puceanu, Maggie Braddock (age 3)

Summary: Normie Osborn, despite all the chaos in his life as of late, has found a place he feels he belongs in at Avengers Academy. He and his symbiote partner, Rascal, have also found kindred spirits in Lunella Lafayette and Devil Dinosaur. But he's new to this hero thing, and so far, it hasn't always gone well. So when Lunella offers her assistance while he takes a patrol out in the city, he accepts.

But things get a little more complicated when he comes across a couple from across the pond and witnesses their three-year-old daughter, Maggie, getting snatched up and held for ransom. Who better than Red Goblin, with a little remote help from Moon Girl, to rescue her?

Well... probably plenty of people could do it better. But Maggie doesn't seem to mind her rescuers being a little unorthodox!

Would you like a fic of your own? Or are you interesting in filling prompt requests? Check out the Marvel Gotcha for Gaza post to learn more! Together, we can make a difference (AND get some pretty sweet fanworks made too)!

[madhare0512]

Ships I Write For:

- Marvel

FitzSimmons

The Scientists and the Spies (Leopold Fitz/Jemma Simmons/Clint Barton/Natasha Romanoff)

Lance Hunter/Leopold Fitz

Huntingbird

Clintasha

Hulkeye

StaticQuake

Daisy Johnson/Piper

Daisy Johnson/Piper/Lincoln Campbell

Melinda May/Phil Coulson

Mack Mackenzis/Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez

Foggy Nelson/Matt Murdock

Wilson Fisk/James Wesley

Luke Cage/Danny Rand

Danny Rand/Spiderman (Ultimate Spiderman only)

IronHawk

Technobow

Stony

Cherik

Armando Muñoz/Alex Summer

Nightsilver

Scott/Jean

Danielle Moonstar/Rayne Sinclair/Illyana Rasputin/Sam Guthrie/Roberto de Costa

Raven/Hank

Wandavision

Peter/Ned/MJ

Carol Danvers/Maria

Symbrock

Bucky Barnes/Sam Wilson

Loki/Mobius

Kate Bishop/Yelena Belova

~

- DC

Birdflash

Malcolm West | Herald/Joey Wilson | Jericho (Teen Titans only)

Rachel Roth | Raven/Garfield Logan | Beast Boy

Coldflash

Superflarrow

Vibeflash

Atomwave

Coldatom

Flashatom

Coldwaveatomflash

Goldenvibe

Toliver

Hawkmates

Killerwave

Winnara

Scholsen

Atomblazer

Coldatomwave

Atomfrostwave

Bruce Wayne/Selina Kyle

Harley Quinn/Poison Ivy

~

- NCIS

Tony DiNozzo/Jimmy Palmer

Tony DiNozzo/Nick Torres/Jimmy Palmer

Nick Torres/Jimmy Palmer

Sam Hanna/G Callen

G Callen/Eric Beale

Kensi Blye/Marty Deeks

Poly!Agents (Callen/Sam/Kensi/Deeks/Eric/Nell)

Nell/Nate

Tim/Abby/Delilah

Bishop/Kasie

Gibbs/Jack Sloan

Sam/Michelle

Jessai (Jesse Boone/Kai Holman)

Pride/Chris/Sebastian

Lucy/Kate

~

- Criminal Minds

Hotch/Hailey

Tara/Emily

Jemily

MoReid

Micphet (Prophet/Mick Rawson)

Sam Cooper/Prophet/Mick Rawson

JJ/Will

Luke/Penelope

Rossi/Erin

~

- Harry Potter

Wolfstar

Jegulus

Jeguiliy

Jacob Kowalski/Newt Scamander

Fred Weasley/Harry Potter/George Weasley

Ron Weasley/Harry Potter

Hermione Granger/Harry Potter

Hermione/Ron/Harry

Harry/Luna

Luna/Ginny

Ginny/Harry

~

- Maze Runner

Newtmas

~

- Doctor Who

Rose/Nine

Martha/Ten

Clara/Eleven

Rose/Nine/Jack Harkness

~

- Supernatural

Destiel

Sabriel

Crowly/Bobby

Bobby/Balthazar

~

- Star Wars

Skysolo

Stormpilot

Jedistormpilot

Obi-Wan/Anakin

Obi-Wan/Anakin/Padme

~

- Star Trek

Chulu

McSpirk

Spirk

McKirk

~

- Merlin

Merther

Morgana/Gwen

~

- Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Hollowheart

Floatingfire

~

- Lord of the Rings/Hobbit

Aralas

Frodo Baggins/Samwise Gamgee

Meriadoc Brandybuck/Peregrin Took

Frodo/Samwise/Merry/Pippin

Bagginshield

~

- Dark Matter

OneThree

~

- Power Rangers (full list in the pr blog)

Jake Holling/Noah Carver

Brody Romero/Preston Tien

Hayley Foster/Calvin Maxwell

Tyler Navarro/Riley Griffen

Jayden Shiba/Antonio Garcia

Mike/Kevin

Devon Daniels/Ravi Shaw/Zoey Reeves/Nate Silva

Devon Daniels/Nate Silva

Casey Rhodes/RJ

Vida Rocca/Xander Blye/Chip Thorn

Nick Russell/Chip Thorn

Jack Landors/Syd Drew/Sky Tate/Z Delgado/Bridge Carson

Jack Landors/Bridge Carson

Will Aston/Mackenzie Hartford

Ronny Robinson/Rose Ortiz

Scott Truman/Summer Landsdown/Dillon/Fynn McAllistair/Ziggy Grover

Dillon/Ziggy Grover

Scott Truman/Flynn McAllistair

Shane Clarke/Dustin Brooks

Zayto/Ollie Akana

Zayto/Ollie Akana/Javi Garcia

~

- Hawai'i Five-0

McDanno

Max Bergman/Jerry Ortega

~

- Shadowhunters

Jimon

Alec Lightwood/Simon Lewis

Jace Herondale/Clary Fray/Simon Lewis

Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood/Simon Lewis

Malec

Clizzy

~

- Umbrella Academy

Dave/Klaus Hargreeves

Eudora Patch/Diego Hargreeves

~

- Flashpoint

Julianna Callaghan/Sam Braddock

Lewis Young/Spike Scarlatti

Sam Braddock/Spike Scarlatti

Sam/Spike/Lew/Donna/Winnie/Jules

~

- Teen Wolf

Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski

Allison/Scott

Erica/Boyd

Danny/Ethan

Lydia/Jackson/Aiden

Lydia/Stiles

~

- Grimm

Monroe/Rosalee Calvert/Nick Burkhardt

Nickroe

Adalind/Juliette

Roddy Geiger/Carter Brimey

Renard/Wu

Wu/Hank

~

- White Collar

Peter Burke/Neal Caffrey

Peter/Elizabeth

Peter/Elizabeth/Neal

~

- CSI

Horatio Caine/Eric Delko

Caine/Eric/Speedle

Calleigh/Ryan Wolfe/Natalia

~

- 9-1-1/Lone Star

Tarlos

Russley

Owen/Michelle

Bobby/Athena

Hen/Karen

Chimney/Maddie

Marjan/Paul

Mateo/Nancy

Nancy/Marjan

~

- One Chicago

Kelly Severide/Matthew Casey

Greg "Mouse" Gerwitz/Jay Halstead

Will Halstead/Connor Rhodes

Will Halstead/Natalie Manning/Connor Rhodes

Will Halstead/Justin Lieu/Connor Rhodes

Gabby/Shay

Darren/Blake

Mouch/Trudy

Herrmann/Cindy

Boden/Donna

Cruz/Chloe

Antonio/Peter Stone

Antonio/Voight

Sarah/Noah/Joey

Crockett/Ethan

Ethan/April

April/Maggie

~

- Mission Impossible

Ethan/Will

Jane/Bengi

~

- Sherlock

Johnlock

Greg Lestrade/Mycroft Holmes

~

- House

House/Chase

House/Wilson

Wilson/Chase

House/Wilson/Chase

Foreman/Thirteen

~

- Ghost Whisperer

Melinda/Jim

Melinda/Rick

Melinda/Rick/Eli

~

- Baby Driver

Darling/Buddy/Baby

~

- Bull

Danny/Cable

Bull/Benny

~

- Julie and the Phantoms

Luke/Julie

Luke/Reggie/Alex

Luke/Alex

Julie/Flynn

Julie/Carrie

~

-TMNT

Leo/Usagi (2003 only)

Leo/Karai (2003 only)

Raph/Traximus

Raph/Casey Jones

Don/Usagi (2003 only)

Don/Leatherhead

Mikey/Mondo Gecko

Mikey/Renet

Splinter/Tang Shen (2012 only)

~

I do not write incest of any kind, I do not write abuse unless by my own ideas, I do not write manipulation unless by my own ideas

If you have a question about a ship you don't see up here and want me to write, you're welcome to DM/IM me.

Thank you!

[scarlet--wiccan]

Idk if you’ve read/kept up with x men green at all but curse reminds me of Wanda, specifically her early powerset… Wanda points and “something” happens, but she can’t control what, sometimes it’s bad for her. Curse says something and it happens but not always the way she wants; it has to hurt someone or she’ll get hurt. It’s colorized and described as wishes like Billy’s powers, which are very much based on wandas powers. Wanda learned magic to control her powers. Curse should go to strange/academy learn from Wanda.

I was thinking the same thing! Her powers were specifically described as "probability manipulation"* at one point, which is exactly how Wanda's hex power used to be defined.

I think Curse is a great illustration of how the Council, and Krakoa in general, are still capable of failing mutants who needs specialized care and support. I know that everyone gets math class uploaded into their brain, but there's so little actual training and education happening on this island, that it's no surprise kids slip through the cracks. Look at how things went for No-Girl. Yes, Curse's gift is dangerous, but she's not going to get the help she needs when there there are people on Council who would just condemn her outright for the power she was born with.

In the 70s and 80s, Wanda's probability powers were distinctly separate from her learned magic, but the discipline of practicing magic helped her hone her mutant powers. I do think that distinction makes for slightly better storytelling, as the growth and control feel more earned.

Most mutants with magic powers are like classic Wanda-- their mutation and magic are two separate things. The line gets a little blurry with the Externals, but that's a different conversation. Excalibur did play with the idea that mutant powers, especially mutant circuits, lend themselves to magic, but it didn't go very far outside of Rictor becoming a "druid." In Rictor's case, nature-based magic overlaps with his natural connection to the earth.** There's definitelty potential for mutants with elemental powers or reality altering abilities to use those gifts as an inroad to magic, and I'm surprised that this wasn't explored more fully, considering how much focus was put on magic and Otherworld in the early Krakoan era.

*There are actually a lot mutants with reality- and probability-altering powers, and it's a little frustrating how some of those characters are treated as being too dangerous or unstable to live, and some of them get a free pass because they're necessary for Krakoa's interests. Everybody's come around to Proteus's side and measures are put in place to make sure he's stable, because he is a vital part of the Five. Jamie Braddock's history gets swept under the rug because it was very fucking useful to the Council to have a mutant installed in Camelot. But g-d forbid Curse get any sort of help.

**This was one of those soft-retcons that never gets explained or justified, it just happens and readers are expected to run with it. Sometimes that's okay, sometimes it's not. I find Howard's pacing and dialogue disorienting, so a lot of her magic stuff felt like an unfinished thought to me when reading. The expansion of Rictor's natural powers was definitely one of those things.

Also, that's not what druids are! Contemporary media typically uses "druid" to describe wizards and sorcerers with earth or forest-based nature powers, but that's not historically accurate to the role of druids in pre-Christian Celtic societies. It's not really that big a deal, but Excalibur is a book that's largely concerned with British national identity as well as the mythology and folklore of the British isles so I would have expected a little more care, in this specific context.

[the-unspeakable-tsar]

X-Manson Chapter 3 by Doctor Benway - Annotated by Tsar

We now get into the portion of the story that discusses the raid and its immediate fallout. Tw for depictions of assault, gore, and child abuse.

[Shot of Douglas and Marie-Ange Ramsey]

DR: The raid. Oh, boy.

Int: Why did you not bring in the authorities?

DR: I think there was too much going on. I was freaking out over Ariel ending up there, then Elizabeth Braddock disappeared and there was that big manhunt and there were reporters all over the place, and then Professor Lehnsherr showed up and he was in a worse state than I was.

[Shot of Gabrielle Lehnsherr]

GL: He can't talk about it, can't even think about it. I only know parts, from what he cries out in the night and from the reports on the investigation.

Int: He went to Emma Frost for help?

GL: It seemed the logical place to start, since she knew about the School and was a psi. Also, at the time Erich was not welcome in the US at all. Besides the Cape Citadel incident, his interference in the deployment of nuclear weapons in Europe and his resolution of the Korean conflict had made him a great many enemies in Washington, especially in the State and Defence Departments. It was part of why we lived in Vienna. When we tried to live in Germany, the Americans had them revoke his visa. The French and the British were no help, since Erich kept messing with their missile programs also.

Int: So he entered the US illegally?

GL: Yes. He flew to Montreal on a commercial flight, then flew to the Academy on his own power. His original plan was to convince Emma Frost to engage the authorities in an assault on Xavier's school.

Int: But that's not what happened.

GL: No.

[Shot of Emma Frost]

EF: Ultimately, the responsibility for the raid on Xavier's school is mine alone. If I could go back and change anything in my life, it would have been my decision to attack without support.

Int: Just you and Erich Lehnsherr?

EF: Yes. I found that my resistance was not what I had hoped that it was. With Erich's panic and Doug's fear and my own guilt for not going myself to pick up Ms Braddock from the airport, I allowed myself to act precipitously. Xavier was going to New York to debate a fundamentalist preacher over mutant rights issues. Doug hacked into the computers at the Stryker Crusade and found that Xavier was to be accompanied by Summers, Grey and Logan. Worthington was supposed to be at some big pro-mutant fundraiser in Los Angeles, and McCoy was still in Princeton. From what Douglas and Angelica and Vance had said, that left the Russian and the Irishman in charge of the School. We thought that we had a chance. It was hubris, pure hubris.

*Takes place somewhere around God Loves Man Kills. Scott being there raises questions; maybe the raid takes place roughly after his liaison with Maddie.

[Shot of Doug and Marie-Ange Ramsey]

DR: I had a feeling that they were going to try something on their own. Vance and I talked about calling the FBI and then he told me about what happened with the cops again, so we decided that we'd have to call a whole lot of different places at once so that there'd be too many for Xavier to get his claws into. Vance was into calling the Avengers. Angie ran in and said she saw Emma and Erich heading for the chopper. Vance and Angie took off after them, but she sent them back.

Int: Manipulating them?

*at this point, the Interviewer has made a lot of suggestions that psychics are always manipulating people. perhaps rightly so.

DR: No, no. Just sending very forcefully. She told us not to follow. We had a big argument. I said we should follow, Vance and Angie wanted to do what Emma said.

Int: But you ended up there.

DR: I said goodnight to them then took a taxi and the train to Boston followed by a train to Rye. Then I took a taxi to Salem Centre. I got there at 10:30.

Int: Why did you disobey Frost?

DR: I just had this terrible feeling that something was going to go wrong. Kind of like what Marie-Ange gets when she deals the cards, but not so focused. I had this feeling that we'd overlooked something.

Int: Did you have a plan?

DR: Kind of. It was so insane in retrospect that I still can't get over the fact that I'm still alive. I had this crazy idea of sneaking around the outside and checking to make sure everything was OK, that they'd all gotten out. Then I would call for help, if anything looked wrong. I couldn't see anything from the road, so I got into the grounds by going over the wall and into the woods. I didn't even think that they had any security equipment in place. I found what was left of the helicopter under a tarp by the lake, but neither of them were in it. I was going to go and phone Vance and all the agencies when I saw the car drive up.

Int: Their car?

DR: The Rolls-Royce. I saw Xavier get out and go into the house with Logan and Summers and Grey.

Int: They had no idea that you were there?

DR: I'm resistant enough that he couldn't pick me up unless he knew where I was. If there hadn't been a storm blowing in, or if it had been blowing in from behind me, Logan would have picked me out. If I'd known how lucky I was, I would have just taken off and made the calls.

*ororo reference?

Int: But you didn't.

DR: No. They weren't racing in, so I knew, just knew, that Ariel and Ms Frost were still in there. I watched Xavier go into a side entrance to the house, kind of into a basement. I waited five minutes, then went to the door. It was open and it was dark inside, so I went in.

Int: What did you find?

DR: Guns. Lots of guns and grenades and something that looked like a missile. There was another door, kind of half open. I went over to it, and looked in. It opened onto a kind of balcony over this indoor pool. It was all tiles, and it really stank. There were people down around the pool chanting, and one of them was walking back and forth over the surface of the water. The water was, it was, it was-

*The x-men do have an armory.

MAR: Blood.

DR: It was like he was walking on a pool of blood, but it couldn't have been blood. Not that much..

*they had to store it somewhere, douglas.

Int: Did you see Emma Frost and Erich Lehnsherr there?

DR: I saw them, I saw Xavier, but not much else. From what I did see, Emma was being held by some kind of force and Professor Lehnsherr was floating in the air, moaning. I didn't know it at the time, but it was Cable walking on the water, holding them there.

*in an earlier post, i referened Xuan and Dani as being the second or third Psi Mentioned by Brian Braddock. I forgot about Cable. He could take either place, but it's likely Xuan's place.

Int: So what did you do?

DR: I thought of running, but I just knew that they'd be killed before help would come. Then it struck me. They might have all that power, but I was in a room full of grenades. I thought that if I could distract them like they did in all those World War 2 movies, then they might be able to escape. I found some grenades that said they were concussion grenades and some that were smoke. I laid out three of each and then I pulled all the pins really quick, then threw them through the door all at once.

Int: What happened?

DR: They always counted to ten in the movies, but these things had twenty second fuses. I counted onetwothreefour as I pulled the pins fivesix as I picked them up, seven as I stepped up to the doorway, eight as I threw them, nine as I turned and ran, then ten and nothing. I mean, I had it all thought out, and it didn't work, so I stopped dead, turned around, went back, and looked. They were all staring at me.

Int: Oh shit.

DR: Oh yeah. Emma sent to me: RUN. I ran, and I kept thinking of the car and I just got outside when all the grenades starting going off. I heard the roar and the glass breaking and I thought, I killed them all. I got to the car and the keys were still in it. I started it just like I'd seen my Dad do, and Emma sent to me and told me to drive it around the side. If it hadn't been an automatic, we'd have been fucked. So I drove this car, which was about the size of a bus, down across the lawn just as she's dragging Professor Lehnsherr out the door. There's people all over the place, crawling out the windows, throwing up everywhere from the gas, but they don't see us. She wrenches open the door and throws Erich in and sends DRIVE so hard I had a nosebleed. So I drove.

Int: Did any of them try to stop you?

SR: Logan was the only one in any shape to stop us. He tried to charge the car.

*fuck.

Int: So you drove away from him?

DR: Ran right over him.

MAR: That's enough. Stop the tape.

*Point to Tarot for stopping it before Doug has a war flashback

[Shot of Gabrielle Lehnsherr]

GL: Erich regressed. What he saw took him back to the War. He had a very bad War, as well you know. He didn't utter a single word for five years after that. It took a decade for him to make a full recovery. He did all he could, but he couldn't save my son.

*Xavier or Cable hit him with all his repressed trauma, i think.

[Shot of Douglas & Marie-Ange Ramsey]

DR: Sorry about that. I'm OK.

MAR: If you're certain.

*tension in the marriage?

DR: I am.

Int: How did you get back to the Academy?

DR: I had to get out of the grounds first, and I was panicking. I mean, I could barely reach the pedals and see over the dash at the same time. I remember driving across the patio twice and almost hitting people both times, then I somehow found the gate and drove out of it. I pulled over about half a mile down the road and looked in the back. The Professor was unconscious, and Emma was just sort of collapsed on top of him. I looked at her and said I can't drive or something like that and she just stared back at me, like she was some other person.

Int: She was possessed?

DR: Not in the classical sense. You know those old comics where someone sees a ghost and their hair turns white overnight? It was exactly like that, except that her hair was already white, it was just like her face matched or something. I could see people in the road, so I took off. I drove for like three hours until I found this phone booth by the side of the road. I called the school emergency number and got Mr. Fitzroy, and said that he had to come out and get us.

Int: How did he find you?

DR: I gave him the number, and I think he had some connection in the phone company. He was out with half a dozen masters in a van within 15 minutes. It turned out I was only ten miles from the Academy.

Int: Did you go to the authorities?

DR: When I got back, they sedated me. They didn't know that would break down my natural resistance to telepathy. I was almost asleep when they came to see me.

Int: Who?

DR: Xavier and Cable and Ariel. They were standing at the foot of my bed. They weren't physically there, of course, but they were there for me. To give me a message.

Int: Did you know it was her?

DR: Not until they told me. She was very pretty. She had long brown hair and these big brown eyes. She looked so scared.

-----

She sits up, upending the half-fill tub of chip dip onto the shag carpet. The chips follow, but she doesn't notice. She goes down on her knees before the set and touches the image of his face on the warm unyielding glass.

[taiblogcomics]

All the Trappings, None of the Substance

Hey there, straight-edge Bigfoot. We're nearly done with Avengers Undercover, can you believe it? All signs point to "this wasn't worth it!", so let's just barrel ahead and get to today's review~

Here's the cover:

Oh geez, this cover. Good god. Like, I guess Zemo looks okay, though personally I'd be pointing my sword towards the big giant face I was jumping at, not up. Also, I think his gun holster is empty. Zemo's fine. No, it's the big giant face of Giant Man that's truly horrifying. Like, it's a little too realistic for such a cartoony expression. Weirdly thin lips, giant squared-off teeth, mouth open too wide… Is he about to eat Zemo? I haven't seen Attack on Titan, but I'm pretty sure an Attack on Titan scene is about to happen. Also, there's no background, so this fight is just taking place in a white void. All that aside, the other problem with this cover? None of the teens this comic is supposedly about are on it~

So we open with the Avengers showing up outside Bagalia. Like, is it less of an international incident if they park their Helicarrier outside of the borders and fly in on their own than if they flew the whole vehicle over the border? I don't know how that works. And I say "Avengers", but we got Captain Britain and Meggan, who are part of Braddock Academy, and Hyperion, who is part of Squadron Supreme, and… Well, I guess Spider-Woman is an Avenger, so you got me there. Anyways, this dramatic action scene is undercut by a farmer yelling at them that they scared his goats.

Meanwhile, actually in Bagalia, we pick up from last issue with Anachronism fighting the mind-controlled Cullen Bloodstone (in his monster form). He's pretty worn out, to the point that his ancient Celtic warrior spirit has stopped offering advice. But Anachronism doesn't need advice, he's got guts. And his plan is basically "just don't stop fighting". He makes a poor taunt at Hellstrom, which is the cue for Hazmat to show up and roast Hellstrom. Apparently demonic fire < radiation, in case you were wondering.

Nico also shows up and punches Monster!Cullen, knocking him over and disabling Hellstrom's control. She then engages with Hellstrom while Alex Wilder watches all smirkily. Rather than keep fighting, though, Anachronism decides to use his words to defeat Cullen. He taunts the Cullen within the monster that he basically fell for the first pretty face to flash him a smile, when the smile belonged to a goon calling himself "Son of Satan" and prancing about in latex. Surprisingly, this works, and Cullen regains control of himself, stealing a kiss from Anachronism as thanks. I guess that resolves their plotline!

Nico and Hellstrom are still slugging it out, and both of them know that while she's doing good, he's still got the advantage. And that's when the Avengers literally drop into the scene. In addition to the four I mentioned earlier, we also have Giant Man, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Tigra. Hazmat and Anachronism marvel that the adults actually showed up for once. Only took them three months, didn't it~? To even those odds, the Young Masters also all get up and join Hellstrom. And then you get the big clash where both sides run at each other screaming.

So there's a big fight going on, and Baron Zemo himself casually strolls onto the battlefield, Madame Masque in tow. He sidles up to Hellstrom and gives him the word, and they spring their trap. All the Young Masters light up and vanish in a puff of flame. Alex gestures, and the entrance the Avengers just used seals up, cutting of Bad Guy Central from the remaining SHIELD troops. And then the teleport completes. All the heroes are stuck down there (now they're literally Avengers under some kind of cover, the title finally works!), while the bad guys have just teleported to the surface. Masque shoots the SHIELD man on the bridge, and the villains now control the Helicarrier.

While the Young Masters handle Maria Hill and her riffraff outside, Zemo, his main goons, and Deathlocket take the bridge. Deathlocket hacks into the Helicarrier's systems, giving them control, and apparently having no qualms about doing so. While they fly off to go make war or whatever Zemo's plan is, the comic ends by revealing Cammi is also on the Helicarrier somehow. And the caption boxes are all like "Oh, did you think she wouldn't escape jail? Nope, here she is!" You know, just in case you couldn't tell how rushed this ending is.

I will be fair to this comic. The stuff with Anachronism beating Monster!Cullen by just talking to him was actually very good. That stuff's on point. The rest of the stuff is... maybe not the worst, but not great either. Middling at most. I think really the worst part (other than the cover, because good god, I'm still not over that) is just the very last panel, where they deus ex machina in Cammi and then hang a lampshade on it with the caption boxes. And yes, I get the fact that they were being cancelled and didn't have a lot of time or comic to wrap things up, so what else could they do? Answer: anything other than this~

[gerec]

Omg you would not believe how long it took me to get this just right lol:

‘Xavier and Lehnsherr Reunite For Long Awaited Sequel’

From The Hollywood Reporter

Charles Xavier (Dangerous Game) and Erik Lehnsherr (Hellfire) are set to reunite in ‘Days of Future Past’, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Ororo Munroe for Universal Pictures.

Written by Hank McCoy, the highly anticipated sequel to the Academy Award winning ‘First Class’ takes place ten years after the film’s end, with Xavier and Lehnsherr reprising their respective roles. Set in 1912, the film follows Francis Haller’s (Xavier) return to England to become headmaster of an all-boys school, and the love triangle that develops when he begins a clandestine relationship with groundskeeper James Thomas (played by Logan Howlett) just as his old lover Max Eisenhardt (Lehnsherr) re-enters his life.  

In addition to Xavier, Lehnsherr and Howlett, the project sees the addition of Betsy Braddock, Bobby Drake and Anna Marie Lebeau to the stellar cast.

‘Days of Future Past’ is targeting an October 2024 release date with filming expected to begin soon.

[sofiamantegafan110]

NEW X-MEN EPISODE 6

EPISODE 6: LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO, PART 1

WE OPEN UP ON A YOUNG, TEN-YEAR-OLD LAURA, DRESSED IN A BLACK COMBAT SUIT INSIDE A COMPLETELY WHITE ROOM. SHE HUGS HER KNEES, RESTING HER HEAD AGAINST THE WALL. SUDDENLY, THE DOOR OPENS AND A FEMALE VOICE TELLS HER TO GET UP. HER FIRST MISSION STARTS NOW.

WE THEN CUT TO THE ELECTION OF SENATOR GREG JOHNSON. AS HE POSES WITH HIS FAMILY FOR PICTURES, A YOUNG DISABLED GIRL ASKS TO HAVE A PICTURE TAKEN WITH HIM. SENATOR JOHNSON NODS, AND ALLOWS THE GIRL TO BE IN THE NEXT PICTURE. THE PHOTOGRAPHER READIES THE CAMERA.

AS RAPID SHOTS ARE TAKEN, WE CUT IN AND OUT AS LAURA’S CLAWS ARE UNSHEATHED, AND SHE MASSACRES THE SENATOR, HIS FAMILY, AND ALL BYSTANDERS.

IN THE PRESENT, LAURA AWAKENS FROM HER NIGHTMARE, BREATHING HEAVILY. SHE LOOKS OVER AT A SLEEPING SOORAYA BEFORE TURNING TO LOOK OUT THE WINDOW. AFTER CONFIRMING THAT IT WAS JUST A DREAM, SHE FALLS BACK ASLEEP.

MEANWHILE, ON A HILL OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL, LAURA IS BEING WATCHED BY BINOCULARS. WE THEN CUT OVER TO A PAIR OF LIPS, CURLING INTO A WICKED SMILE.

VOICE: I HAVE YOU NOW, X-23. NOWHERE TO HIDE. I’M COMING FOR YOU…

CUE INTRO AND CREDITS.

WE NOW CUT OVER TO LAURA ON THE FOOTBALL FIELD AS SHE JUMPS OVER SEVERAL BOYS ON THE OPPOSING TEAM BEFORE SCORING A TOUCHDOWN. JULIAN CONGRATULATES HER, SAYING THAT IF SHE KEEPS THAT UP, THEY COULD BEAT THE BRADDOCK ACADEMY IN THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP. LAURA SMILES AND THANKS HIM AS SANTO TALKS ABOUT HOW STOKED HE IS TO GO TO JAY’S HOUSE FOR THANKSGIVING. JULIAN NODS, SAYING THAT HE USUALLY HAS THANKSGIVING WITH HIS FAMILY, BUT HE WANTS TO SEE HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES.

LAURA: YES. I SUPPOSE IT COULD BE EXCITING.

SANTO: THAT’S THE SPIRIT!

AS THE TRIO WALK OUT THE LOCKER ROOM, CLARICE AND JAY APPROACH THEM, ASKING IF THEY HAVE ALL THEIR BAGS PACKED. THEY NOD, AND JAY SAYS THAT HIS SISTER, MELODY, WILL BE BRINGING HER SQUAD OVER TOO. LAURA IS CONCERNED ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE GOING ALONG, BUT CLARICE TELLS HER NOT TO WORRY. IT’S GONNA BE SO MUCH FUN.

AS THEY TALK, THE GROUP ENTERS THE GYM AS THE CHEERLEADERS PERFECT THEIR ROUTINE TO CARLY RAE JEPSIN’S ‘CUT TO THE FEELING’. AS THE SONG ENDS, SOFIA SAYS THAT THEY ALL DID A GREAT JOB AND SHE’LL SEE THEM AFTER THANKSGIVING BREAK. CLARICE BLUSHES WHILE JAY COMMENTS THAT SOFIA’S TAKING HER JOB AS THE NEW TEAM CAPTAIN VERY SERIOUSLY.

SOFIA AND CESSILY THEN WALK OVER TO THEM AND CLARICE COMPLIMENTS THE ROUTINE. SOFIA THANKS HER, GIVING HER A KISS ON THE CHEEK. SANTO STATES HOW GLAD HE IS THAT THEY’RE FINALLY DATING. NOW THINGS WON’T BE SO AWKWARD BETWEEN THEM. ALMOST IMMEDIATELY, HE ASKS CLARICE HOW GOOD SOFIA IS IN BED, AND SHE PUNCHES HIS ARM.

CLARICE: YUP. IT MAKES US WONDER IF SOME OF OUR OTHER TEAMMATES ARE GONNA GET TOGETHER…

SHE LOOKS OVER AT LAURA AND JULIAN AS SHE SAYS IT, WINKING AT LAURA. CESSILY BLOWS A KISS TO ROXY AS SHE LEAVES THE GYM AND TELLS THEM THAT THEY SHOULD GET THEIR STUFF. DANI SHOULD BE THERE WITH THE RV IN TEN MINUTES. THEY NOD, AND HEAD OVER TO THEIR DORMS.

LATER, THE NEW MUTANTS WAIT IN THE PARKING LOT WITH THEIR BAGS AS DANI ARRIVES IN AN RV. SHE ASKS IF THEY’RE READY FOR THEIR FIRST EVER TRIP AS A TEAM. THE GROUP CLAMORS INTO THE VAN AND DANI DRIVES OFF. SANTO IMMEDIATELY ASKS IF ANYONE PACKED ANY WING-DINGS, AND CLARICE ASKS HIM WHY HE COULDN’T JUST GET THEM HIMSELF.

A FEW MINUTES LATER, CESSILY IS IN THE PROCESS OF TALKING ABOUT HER DATE WITH ROXY THE PREVIOUS WEEKEND. THEY WENT TO A NICE CLUB, DANCED, HAD SOME DRINKS, AND THEN ROXY ASKED IF THEY WERE ACTUALLY GIRLFRIENDS, WHICH CESSILY SAID YES TO. JULIAN SIGHS, TELLING HER TO STOP FLAUNTING HER CASUAL LESBIANISM. IT’S A BIT UPSETTING THAT SHE WAS ABLE TO FIND A GIRLFRIEND BEFORE HE COULD.

DANI: YOU CAN’T RUSH THIS, JULIAN. THERE’S A GIRL FOR YOU, SOMEWHERE. YOU JUST NEED TO FIND THAT PERFECT MOMENT.

SOFIA: THAT’S RIGHT. CLARICE AND I WAITED UNTIL THE DANCE TO CONFESS OUR FEELINGS AND THAT TURNED OUT WELL. I MEAN, NO OFFENSE. I KNOW THAT WAS ROUGH FOR YOU.

JULIAN TELLS HER THAT IT’S COOL. HE’S OVER HER. CLARICE IMMEDIATELY ASKS HIM IF HER GIRLFRIEND ISN’T PRETTY ENOUGH FOR HIS STANDARDS ANYMORE, AND JULIAN LAUGHS, SAYING THAT HE’S NOT HOMOPHOBIC. HE JUST KNOWS THAT THEY’RE DATING NOW AND HE’S COOL WITH THAT. AFTER WHAT HAPPENED WITH MONET, HE’S NOT GOING TO TAKE LOVE FOR GRANTED.

CESSILY STATES HER SYMPATHY FOR MONET. AFTER WHAT HAPPENED, SHE GOT A BIT OF A BAD REPUTATION. MAYBE SHE TRIED TO BE FRIENDLY TO HER, THINGS WOULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT. JAY LOOKS AT HIS PHONE AND SAYS THAT MELODY AND HER SQUAD ARE ALREADY THERE, BEFORE TELLING DANI TO MAKE A LEFT TURN.

SOFIA: ANYWAYS, NOT TO RAT OUT MY BEAUTIFUL GIRLFRIEND, BUT CLARICE FERGUSON IS A BIG SOFTIE.

CESSILY: AWWWWW!

CLARICE: AM NOT!

SOFIA: NOT TO RAT OUT MY BEAUTIFUL GIRLFRIEND PART TWO, BUT CLARICE FERGUSON DECORATED MY LOCKER WITH FLOWERS THAT SHE STOLE FROM LIN LI’S GREENHOUSE.

SANTO: HAHA! CLARICE IS EMBAWASSED!

SOFIA: LOVE YOU.

CLARICE: SOFIA!

CESSILY: AWWW, DID YOUR GIWLFWIEND EMBAWASS YOU, CLARICE?

SOFIA: AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHY HAVEN’T YOU SAID YOU WOVE ME BACK?

CLARICE: *SIGH* I LOVE YOU TOO.

CESSILY: HAHA! I LOVE MY MOMS! LET THEM MARRY!

SOFIA STARES AT THEM, ASKING SINCE WHEN DOES SHE HAVE CHILDREN. CLARICE IMMEDIATELY ASKS SINCE WHEN IS SHE A PARENTAL FIGURE. THERE IS NOTHING PARENTAL ABOUT HER. JULIAN SAYS THAT CLARICE IS THE ORDERLY PARENT WHO PRETENDS SHE DOESN’T CARE BUT DEFINITELY DOES.

JAY: CASE IN POINT; “JAY, IF YOU DON’T MAKE SURE THAT PLATE GOES IN THE DISHWASHER, I WILL CRACK IT ON YOUR SKULL, FOOD AND ALL.”

CESSILY: “CESSILY, IF YOU DON’T STOP WRESTLING WITH SANTO, YOU WILL BREAK YOUR HEAD AND I WON’T WASTE THE TIME TO TAKE YOU TO THE INFIRMARY.”

JULIAN: “DID SANTO GET LOST IN THE FUCKING HEDGE MAZE AGAIN? JESUS, I’M GONNA HUNT HIM DOWN WITH A SLEDGEHAMMER.”

SANTO: “PICK UP THOSE DIRTY SOCKS. IT’S STARTING TO SMELL LIKE AN ACTUAL LOCKER ROOM IN HERE.”

CLARICE STARES AT THEM WITH MURDEROUS INTENT.

JAY: AND SOFIA IS OBVIOUSLY THE NURTURING AND MORE LENIENT PARENT. SHE’S ALWAYS BAKING, COOKING, AND/OR CLEANING.

CESSILY: “TAKE A JACKET BEFORE YOU HEAD OUTSIDE. IT’S PRETTY COLD.”

SANTO: TWO DAYS AGO, SHE ASKED ME IF I’D EATEN AT ALL AND THEN SNUCK BEHIND ME WITH A SANDWICH.

CLARICE AND SOFIA STARE AT THEM.

CLARICE: HOLY SHIT, BABY. I THINK WE HAVE KIDS.

SOFIA: I NEVER IMAGINED HAVING FIVE KIDS AT SIXTEEN, BUT HERE I AM.

DANI: OKAY, YOU BUNCH OF TEENAGERS, I’M PULLING OVER. GO PEE OR GET A SNACK WHILE I FILL UP THE GAS.

AS THE GROUP STOPS AT A GAS STATION, THEY DON’T SEE A WOMAN STANDING BESIDE A TAN CHEVY PICKUP PARKED A FEW FEET AWAY. SHE HAS ON A TRENCHCOAT AND SUNGLASSES AND EXAMINES THEM ALL AS THEY EXIT THE VAN. WHEN SHE SEES LAURA, SHE SMIRKS, WATCHING HER UNSHEATHE HER CLAWS AS THE DOOR TO THE 711 SLIDES OPEN. SHE HAS HER NOW.

WE THEN BEGIN A MONTAGE OF THE NEW MUTANTS’ ROAD TRIP. THE SONG PLAYING IS ‘KISS ME MORE’ BY DOJA CAT AND SZA, A SONG THAT THE GROUP IS OCCASIONALLY SEEING SINGING ALONG WITH. AS THEY PLAY ROAD GAMES, EAT FOOD, AND TELL JOKES, THE WOMAN IN THE CHEVY IS CLOSE BEHIND THEM. AS THEY ENTER A CROWDED HIGHWAY, SHE ROLLS DOWN THE WINDOW AND TOSSES A SMALL SPHERICAL OBJECT TO THE LICENSE PLATE OF DANI’S RV. ON THE WOMAN’S CAR’S GPS, A RED DOT APPEARS, MARKING THE RV.

LATER, THE GROUP ARRIVES IN A SMALL HOUSE IN KENTUCKY. THE GROUP STEPS OUT OF THE RV AND SOFIA TAKES SOME PICTURES FOR HER INSTAGRAM. JAY IMMEDIATELY CALLS OUT THAT THE PRODIGAL SON HAS RETURNED, AND A GROUP OF CHILDREN RUSH OUT. THE YOUNGEST ARE A BROWN-HAIRED BOY AND A BLONDE GIRL WHO ARE ABOUT TEN YEARS OLD. THEY’RE FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER BROWN-HAIRED BOY AND A DARK-SKINNED BOY OF ABOUT THIRTEEN YEARS OF AGE. FOLLOWING BEHIND THEM IS A SHY FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL WITH SHORT BROWN HAIR AND A FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL WITH BLONDE HAIR. JAY HUGS HIS YOUNGER SIBLINGS EXCITEDLY AS HIS MOTHER WELCOMES HIM HOME.

JAY: GANG, THIS IS MY MA, LUCINDA. AND THESE ARE MY SIBLINGS, LOUIS, CISSIE, JEB, RAY JR, JOELLE, AND LIZZIE. MA, THIS IS MY SQUAD, THE NEW MUTANTS. MEET JULIAN, SANTO, CLARICE, LAURA, SOFIA, CESS, AND OUR ADVISOR, DANI.

IMMEDIATELY, A BROWN-HAIRED GIRL WALKS OUT, GREETING JAY. HE HUGS HIS FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD SISTER, MELODY, AND TELLS THE GROUP THAT THEY PROBABLY KNOW HER AS AERO, FROM THE PARAGONS. EVENTUALLY, ANOTHER GROUP OF TEENS WALK OUT. LEADING THE GROUP IS A LATINO BOY WITH GRAY SKIN, FOLLOWED BY A PALE BOY WITH DARK BANGS FLOPPING OVER ONE EYE, A BLUE-SKINNED GIRL WITH SILKY BLUE HAIR, A DARK-SKINNED GIRL WITH BUTTERFLY WINGS, A STUDENT WITH WHITE FUR AND A FELINE APPEARANCE, AND A GIRL WITH SHORT AUBURN HAIR THAT HAS BEEN DIP-DYED BLUE.

JAY: AND SPEAK OF THE DEVIL. I THINK YOU MAY KNOW THE MEMBERS OF HER SQUAD; ANGELO ESPINOSA AKA SKIN, AMASS, JENNY SPIEGEL, AKA MIRROR GIRL, AURA CHARLES AKA BUTTERFLY, HER PARTNER CAM LONG AKA OCELOT, AND SHELA SEXTON AKA ESCAPADE.

SOFIA: NICE TO MEET YOU ALL!

JAY IMMEDIATELY ASKS WHERE PAIGE IS, BUT MELODY TELLS HIM THAT SHE HAD X-MEN SHIT TO TAKE CARE OF. JAY LAUGHS. GOOD OLD X-MEN SHIT. SOFIA SMILES, TAKING A SELFIE WITH SHELA AND JENNY WHILE CESSILY TELLS AURA AND CAM THAT IT’S GOOD TO SEE THEM. CAM TELLS HER THAT THEY’RE GLAD TO SEE HER TOO, BUT IT’S WEIRD TO HANG OUT OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL. AURA ASKS THEM IF IT’S REALLY THAT WEIRD, AND CAM PUTS THEIR ARM AROUND HER.

LUCINDA: WELL, IT’LL TAKE A WHILE TO GET THANKSGIVING DINNER READY, SO JAY AND MELODY SHOULD TAKE THEIR LIL’ FRIENDS ON A TOUR.

JULIAN: HONESTLY, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HOW A HILLBILLY THANKSGIVING IS MADE. DO YOU MAKE BABY BACK RIBS INSTEAD OF TURKEY?

BEFORE LUCINDA CAN SLAP HIM, JAY COMMENTS THAT JULIAN’S BEEN HAVING AN EGO CRISIS AS OF LATE. HE’S LEARNING HOW TO NOT BE AN ASSHOLE. LIZZIE TELLS HER MOM THAT SHE’LL KEEP HIM IN CHECK, EARNING A SMILE FROM LUCINDA. JEB AND RAY JR AGREE TO COME ALONG ON THE TOUR, AND JAY AND MELODY SAY THAT IT COULDN’T HURT TO SHOW THEM AROUND.

LATER, JULIAN, LOUIS, CISSIE, JOELLE, LIZZIE, DANI, AND LUCINDA ARE IN THE HOUSE. DANI AND LUCINDA ARE COOKING DINNER WHILE JULIAN WATCHES LOUIS AND CISSIE PLAY. LIZZIE TELLS HIM THAT THEY CAN REALLY BE A HANDFUL IF YOU REALLY GET TO KNOW THEM. JULIAN LAUGHS, TELLING HER THAT IT’S FUNNY. A YEAR BEFORE, HE WOULD SIT AT A TABLE WITH HIS PARENTS AND HAVE A LONG AWKWARD CONVERSATION, AND NOW HERE HE IS, IN KENTUCKY TALKING WITH A GIRL WHO SOUNDS EXACTLY LIKE MILLIE FROM HELLUVA BOSS. LIZZIE CHUCKLES, TELLING HIM THAT SHE HOPES THAT HE’S COMFORTABLE, AND JULIAN TELLS HER THAT HE IS NOW.

MEANWHILE, JAY, MELODY, JEB, AND RAY JR LEAD SOFIA, SANTO, CESSILY, LAURA, CLARICE, ANGELO, SHELA, AMASS, JENNY, CAM, AND AURA ON A TOUR THROUGH THEIR TOWN. AMASS LOOKS AROUND, INTRIGUED. WHERE HE COMES FROM, THERE AREN’T EXACTLY HOLIDAYS TO CELEBRATE. JENNY TELLS HIM THAT AS A NOVITIATE, THEY DIDN’T REALLY CELEBRATE ANYTHING BUT THE LORD, SO IT SEEMS LIKE A FIRST FOR BOTH OF THEM. CAM TELLS THEM THAT THEY SHOULD SEE THE HOLIDAYS IN GENOSHA. SO MANY MUTANTS WITH VARIOUS POWERS, IT CAN GET PRETTY CRAZY. AURA SMILES AND PUTS HER ARM AROUND THEM AFFECTIONATELY.

SOFIA TELLS JAY THAT IT’S SO SWEET OF HIS MOTHER TO INVITE THEM OVER. IT MUST BE HARD HAVING TO DEAL WITH SO MANY CHILDREN. JAY SAYS THAT IT’S NO BIG DEAL. HIS DAD DIED A WHILE AFTER LOUIS AND CISSIE WERE BORN, SO SHE REALLY TOOK THE MAMA BEAR ROLE TO HEART. MELODY JUMPS IN, SAYING THAT THEIR MOM HAS A BIG HEART. AFTER RAY JR LOST HIS DAD IN A FIGHT WITH THE CABOTS, LUCINDA JUMPED AT THE CHANCE TO ADOPT HIM. CESSILY SAYS THAT THAT’S VERY SWEET.

JAY SIGHS WHEN MELODY MENTIONS THE CABOTS, AND SOFIA LOOKS AT HIM IN SYMPATHY, BEING THE ONLY MEMBER OF THE SQUAD TO KNOW HIS SECRET. JEB COMMENTS THAT THE CABOTS AND THE GUTHRIES HAVE BEEN AT EACH OTHER’S THROATS FOR A LONG TIME. THE FACT THAT JAY, MEL, SAM AND PAIGE TURNED OUT TO BE MUTANTS ONLY FUELED THE FIRE.

RAY JR: AN’ ABRAHAM CABOT’S THE ABSOLUTE WORST! GUY’S SO UGLY, HE COULD STOP A TRAIN WITH HIS FACE!

CESSILY: OH REALLY? HOW UGLY IS HE?

JAY: CESS, DON’T ENCOURAGE THEM.

JEB: OH, HE’S THE WORST OF THE WORST. A FACE LIKE THAT SHOULD BE GOVERNED BY THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION!

RAY JR: ONE TIME, BEN GRIMM HIMSELF CAME INTO TOWN, AN’ HE JUST STOPPED DEAD IN HIS TRACKS WHEN ABRAHAM CABOT CAME ALONG! AN’ HE WAS SCREAMIN’ “PLEASE DON’T HURT ME! PLEASE JUST LOOK THE OTHER WAY! FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE, JUST LOOK THE OTHER WAY!” AN’ THAT’S HOW BEN GRIMM BECAME THE THING.

CESSILY BURSTS OUT LAUGHING AND JAY FACEPALMS. SOFIA CHUCKLES, LOOKING OVER AT LAURA. SHE TELLS HER THAT IT WOULDN’T KILL HER TO SMILE SOMETIME. LAURA STARES AT HER BEFORE TURNING AROUND AS SOMEONE CALLS JEB’S NAME. STANDING IN FRONT OF THEM ARE ABRAHAM CABOT AND TWO OF HIS SIDEKICKS. ABE, A BURLY FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD BOY, EXPRESSES HIS DISAPPOINTMENT AT JEB AND RAY JR. HE’S HAD TO KICK THEIR BUTTS DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE THEM TO WANT SOME MORE OVER BREAK. SHELA TELLS THEM TO BACK OFF. THEY WERE JUST HORSING AROUND. IT’S NOT THEIR FAULT THAT HIM AND DUMB AND DUMBER OVER THERE HAVE BRAINS THE SIZE OF DIPPIN’ DOTS.

ABE: IS THIS ONE OF YER MUTIE FRIENDS, GUTHRIE? YOU NEED SOME FREAKS TO COME TO YER RESCUE? I SHOULD’VE KNOWN YOU GUTHRIES WERE NO GOOD. AN’ YOUR FEATHERED FREAK OF A BROTHER HAS SOME NERVE COMIN’ IN HERE AFTER HE RAPED MY SISTER!

SOFIA’S FACE FLASHES WITH RAGE AS SHE PICKS ABE UP WITH THE WIND. CLARICE WATCHES IN SHOCK.

SOFIA: CARE TO REPEAT THAT SENTENCE?

ABE: GET THEM MUTIES! NOW!

ONE OF ABE’S GOONS TRIES TO PUNCH SHELA, BUT IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE, SHELA SWITCHES PLACES WITH ABE, WHO RECEIVES A PUNCH IN THE FACE FROM HIS FRIEND. AMASS GRABS CAM BY THE HAND, CAUSING THEM BOTH TO MERGE INTO A POWERFUL FIGURE THAT LOOMS OVER THE BULLIES. JENNY STEPS BETWEEN THEM, SAYING THAT THEY SHOULD BOTH COOL DOWN. THEY SHOULDN’T BLAME THOSE BULLIES FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO SEE WHAT THEY REALLY ARE. SHE THEN TURNS TO THE BULLIES AND FORMS A REFLECTIVE MIRROR IN HER HAND, TELLING THEM THAT SHE CAN SHOW THEM WHAT THEY TRULY ARE INSIDE. THE CAMERA FOCUSES BEHIND JENNY AS THE BOYS STARE AT THE MIRROR IN FRIGHT BEFORE RUNNING OFF.

AMASS AND CAM RETURN TO THEIR FORMER SELVES AND CAM TELLS THEIR TEAMMATE TO WARN THEM THE NEXT TIME HE DECIDES TO MERGE LIKE THAT. JENNY SMIRKS AS HER MIRROR VANISHES, FLIPPING HER HAIR. SOFIA ASKS HER WHAT THEY SAW, AND JENNY TELLS HER THAT SHE HAS NO CLUE. BUT WHATEVER IT WAS, SHE HAS A FEELING THAT THEY WON’T BE BOTHERING THEM FOR A WHILE NOW.

MELODY: THAT WAS A BIT OVER THE TOP FOR SOME BULLIES, BUT I’M GLAD YOU GUYS STUCK UP FOR US.

JEB: WICKED COOL! THANKS, GUYS!

SOFIA SMILES BEFORE LOOKING DOWN AT THE GROUND, EMBARRASSED OF HER OUTBURST. LAURA ASKS HER WHAT HAPPENED, AND SOFIA TELLS HER THAT THAT’S NOT HER STORY TO TELL. JAY LOOKS UP AT SOFIA IN CONCERN.

AS THE TOUR CONTINUES, LAURA LOOKS OVER TO SEE THE MYSTERIOUS WOMAN FROM THE GAS STATION. SHE SEEMS CONFUSED, LIKE SHE KNOWS HER FROM SOMEWHERE, BUT CAN’T PUT HER FINGER ON WHERE. AS THEY WALK OFF, THE WOMAN TAKES OUT HER PHONE AND DIALS A NUMBER.

WOMAN: YES, SIR. I HAVE THE TARGET IN MY SIGHTS. YES, I’LL TAKE CARE OF IT. NO, SHE’S WITH SOME OTHERS. MUTANTS, BY THE LOOK OF IT. NO, DON’T WORRY. SHE’LL SEPARATE FROM THEM, I KNOW IT. YES, IT’S ALL ACCORDING TO PLAN. THERE’S NOWHERE TO RUN NOW. I’VE GOT HER RIGHT WHERE I WANT HER.

LATER, THE GROUP RETURNS TO THE HOUSE, AND SOFIA SAYS THAT SHE JUST WANTS TO RELAX NOW. LAURA NODS BEFORE OPENING THE DOOR TO SEE JULIAN TALKING TO LIZZIE AND HOLDING HANDS WITH HER. SHE IMMEDIATELY TURNS AROUND AND RUNS AWAY, AS CESSILY CALLS BACK TO HER.

CLARICE: JULIAN FUCKING KELLER, YOU’VE REALLY STEPPED IN IT NOW.

JULIAN: WHAT DID I DO?

CLARICE GROANS, TELLING HIM THAT ONCE AGAIN, HE’S THOUGHT USING HIS MICRO PENIS INSTEAD OF HIS BRAIN. JULIAN ASKS HER WHY LAURA RAN AWAY, DEEPLY CONFUSED. CLARICE TELLS HER THAT SHE DOESN’T KNOW; MAYBE THE SIGHT OF THE GUY SHE HAS A CRUSH ON FLIRTING WITH A COMPLETE STRANGER MIGHT HAVE DONE IT FOR HER. JULIAN STARES AT HER IN SHOCK WHILE JAY VOLUNTEERS TO GO LOOK FOR HER. SOFIA NODS, SAYING THAT SHE’LL GO TOO.

MEANWHILE, LAURA MARCHES THROUGH TOWN, TEARS IN HER EYES. SHE SUDDENLY STOPS BEFORE SNIFFING AUDIBLY AND SAYS THAT SHE KNOWS SOMEONE’S THERE. SHE’S JUST SURPRISED SHE DIDN’T REALIZE IT BEFORE. A FEMALE FIGURE STEPS OUT AND COMPLIMENTS HER PERCEPTIVENESS. SHE DIDN’T THINK IT WOULD BE THIS LONG FOR HER TO FIND HER, THOUGH.

THE MYSTERY WOMAN THEN REMOVES HER COAT AND SUNGLASSES, REVEALING A TALL STATURE WITH LONG DARK HAIR AND MEDIUM LIGHT BROWN SKIN. SHE’S DRESSED IN A BLACK COMBAT SUIT WITH RED ACCENTS AND HAS A BELT ALONG HER WAIST FULL OF WEAPONS AND DEVICES, AND SHE CARRIES A CROSSBOW. LAURA UNSHEATHES HER CLAWS WITH A GROWL.

LAURA: KIMURA.

KIMURA: HI X. MISS ME?

TO BE CONTINUED

[newx-menfan]

“X-Force # 1 Review”

*Spoilers*

The issue starts with Sage monologuing about the “complexity” of Forge...

We then see Forge, running simulations on his estate (his house was cooler in the 80’s guys…); where he’s questioning his own mutation and using science to heighten it (and apparently using BEAST as his analogy…not the BEST choice considering recent events…OR ANY EVENTS with HANK…but whatevs Forge….)

Sage…isn’t doing well…and Forge collects her from a mental health facility by showing her a new device he created that apparently “targets crisis points”… (aka Deus Ex plot Machina)

They both head to Japan and Betsy and Rachel show up (with the STRICT RULE that Deadpool isn’t invited!)

A new version of “X-Force” is formed.

The city is a dead zone when they arrive at the place Forge’s “eight ball” drew them to. No psychic readings. No animals, insects, signs of life; and some weird biomass goo everywhere.

Something killed the main grid of the building…

And then….

SURGE ZAPS THEM ALL! (Not as cool as the panels of Krakellion’s reveal…sorry, Surge!)

We find out (after a touching reunion with Surge and Forge) that Noriko returned to Japan after Krakoa fell apart to stay with some cousins (Oooohhh! Are we finally going to get a resolution to Noriko’s family drama????) and some weird sludge started attacking the city (“The Blob…Indescribable…Indestructible…Nothing Can Stop It!) 

The goo attacks one of the humans Surge saved and the group tries to fight off the goo while calling in Tank and Deadpool (SORRY Betsy!).

Forge hired Wade for this mission; they fight the goo and get the people away using telepathy…where suddenly a giant goo monster appears (soooo….we really are just ripping off “the Blob” movie…huh?)

Betsy passes out Jean Grey XTAS style after sensing its “hunger” and Rachel shoots Phoenix psychic rays at it. 

We find out the Fujikawa research facility they’re located at is actually owned by Mr. Sinister (Huh- he really is a global entrepreneur! You gotta GIVE HIM that!)  

We learn that the blob is an alien-mutant hybrid bioweapon.

Tank literally throws Wade at the blob (hope the money was worth it Wade 🤣), to use Deadpool as some sort of pill because of Wade’s cancer and regeneration … literally starving the poor Goo Monster to death(Poor goo monster 🥺)

They head to Wakanda (apparently NO closure on Surge’s family then…boo!😐) to stop the next danger.

I CAN’T ever get these QR codes to work on Kindle…so…I don’t know what the “extra” panel was 😒.  (really HATE this idea Marvel)

Review:

People have criticized this issue for being slow,  a generic “by the numbers” x-story, and with little characterization…and I am kind of inclined to agree.

While reading- I found myself tuning out, listening to music while I read, kind of wondering when it would be over, and finding the plot kind of..unbelievable….and going against a lot of previous established canon…

I would compare it to Bishop’s Krakoa mini a year or so back (ironically Surge was in that book too!)- it was a “okay” book… but nothing particularly special or exciting about it. 

There was a POSSIBLY for it to be good…it had great ideas… but ultimately the execution was just mediocre.

I am going to be honest …Forge and Surge are the major reasons I have for continuing to read this series, after a pretty lackluster start.

I never really cared for Sage or the Tessa retcon- she was fine in “X-treme X-Men”…but she’s never been a character I cared much for…

I don’t particularly like Betsy or Rachel together- I hated the recent “Excalibur” book and found their relationship really poorly developed. 

Truthfully- Claremont is the only one who can, in my opinion, write a compelling Rachel. Other authors have always fallen flat.

While I am fine with her being LGBTQIA+ (Rachel’s chemistry with Kitty or even Magma was always better than the forced hetero-relationships they put her in…); I am just not really sold on this couple.

Surge’s moments with Forge were nice- I always really liked their connection and am glad we are seeing more done with it.

I am disappointed we didn’t get Noriko’s past explored more (fans have desperately WANTED a story of Noriko in Japan for a while now!); also I felt like the “cousin” angle didn’t really work since Noriko was homeless initially in NYC and following the dissolution of the X-Men, went to Colorado to find Dani…instead of just returning to Japan to “extended family”…

Overall I just wasn’t impressed.

It’s too bad because there was a time when “X-Force” had some of the best runs on the “X-line”….now it is consistently the X-books worst series and the one people immediately drop 😬.

Theories/Predictions:

Is Forge gonna go “Beast” levels of batshit crazy/jumping the shark??? Only time will tell 😜🤣

[braddocklegacy]

They are the might and the light.

Betsy Braddock/Captain Britain - Protector of Mutants, Magic and the Multiverse. Operates as the knight/agent. Proactive response to threats against mutants in the UK, adventures to other dimensions if need arises, Krakoan liason to the UK, helps facilitate peace amongst Otherworld kingdoms, acts as guide to Otherworld for other heroes, frequent member of the X-Men. Wielder of the Starlight Sword.

Brian Braddock/Captain Avalon - Guardian of Magic, Knowledge and the Multiverse. Operates as the scholar. Oversees Braddock Academy, mentors and trains knights in Avalon, fields studies in lab at the manor, keeps record of history and artifacts. Second line of defense if any threats make it to the land while Betsy is away. Wielder of the Sword of Might.

[inmutant]

I'll probably make a hc about this at a later date. But I just want to point out that Luna is technically one of the most protected children out of all the marvel comics and characters. This is due to her connections with, Avengers, XMEN, Brotherhood, Fantastic 4, the Avengers and their allies, Braddock Academy, Inhumans and their allies. Lastly, her family being literally the most powerful family in marvel. I'm sure there is more connections elsewhere as well.

Basically going after Luna is an insane move, because you have to be incredibly stupid or mad to do so due to the extreme amount of protection she is under.