Exiles #2

It's the second half of the Exiles first mission, and already they've messed things up by unleashing an evil version of Professor Xavier. When they find the correct person that's needed to set this mission right, it will require that one of the Exiles make the ultimate sacrifice and a new Exile joins the team.

On the sidewalk of Phoenix a woman lays, blood from her nose slowly drying on her face, her groceries strewn across the pavement. She had only felt a small amount of pain when it happened, but could it have been avoided?

Her son's head lies on her hip, he too is no longer conscious, he had asked his mother if he could stay home alone and watch television as he did not wish to go downtown but she did not feel comfortable leaving him.

Yet, in retrospect one realizes it would have made no difference either way seeing as they only lived three miles away and everyone within a five mile radius had been hit.

We then see the entire street of Phoenix, oil covers the roads, bodies litter the sidewalks, vehicles lay in disarray, all of them having crashed. It seems Charles Xavier headed downtown and unleashed a mind blast, finally releasing his pent-up anger.

Over a quarter of a million were now either comatose or brain-dead and who was to blame for this catastrophe? None other than those that came to save this world, the Exiles.

The six young men and women recuperate, trying to deal with the guilt they feel for failing, costing the lives of many innocents. They were to "find the one who would lead you...your greatest teacher" yet after seeing what they had unleashed Morph says to the group, "...I guess we weren't supposed to free Professor X after all, huh?"

The team was to save the world but instead caused the biggest disaster in its history. On the balcony outside of the room the two whom were hit the most by this event, Blink and Mimic, discuss things.

Mimic continues to regret his assumptions and continues to express his shame for failing this mission, saying that he never thought any version of Charles could be evil.

Clarice tells him to stop comparing the Charles of this Earth to the Charles of his own as they are not the same and he must come to terms with that. She then ends their conversation by telling him that it is their mess and they are going to clean it up.

One hundred miles from New York City, two heavily-armed men talk inside the Mountridge Facility. They discuss the recent events in Phoenix and one tells the other that Washington suspects the freaks to come to the facility seeking to free their fellows.

Suddenly, without a sound the two men drop on top of one another, as if in a coma. As it turns out, all across the facility, men are falling into comatose states as a barefoot Charles Xavier walks calmly through the halls, searching their minds for a key code.

After locating it, he types it in when he arrives at a door only to see inside, "Good god...was I in as bad a shape as this? I hope I smelled better." Charles says as he enters and then proceeds to speak to the giant man whose body fills the room in which he is restrained.

"I will say, Cain, you've certainly filled out over the years...you're a veritable juggernaut."

Off in some other location, the team continues to do detective work to get the lay of the land. They become curious over how such an advanced prison as the one that held Charles could exist in a world without Reed Richards, Tony Stark or Bruce Banner...eventually with the help of Cerebro they located one of the possibilities, it had been Forge.

At learning this, the members of the group became burdened with both disappointment and rage...because in their worlds, Forge had always been a friend.

Having tracked him down to his residence, Nocturne before him, her two-toed foot at his throat. Forge seems confident that they'll be coming, because there are sensors everywhere.

Magnus quickly stills this thought however when he reveals that alarms, sensors and detectors are all made of metal and that by now there is no way that Forge could even call for a pizza.

Blink then threatens him to tell them what they want to know or else she will let Nocturne back at him, and then allow Magnus to boil the iron in his blood...not to mention what Thunderbird would do.

Forge started off slowly, telling them what they wanted to know about things such as the "rogue mutants". Yet, they feel he is not being open enough so T-Bird threatens to crush Forge's metal leg and hand into a ball...after that he really began to open up.

It was he who provided the world with everything they needed to exterminate the Homo Superior race such as tracking devices and power dampeners but his greatest asset was the information he provided.

He then explains to them who the teacher is, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world when he said "...and the "teacher," the "one who would lead"...I think that's pretty obvious. There was only one man who wanted to band together all the powered beings around the world...and peacefully at that."

Magnus gasps as Forge continues, "Erik Lehnsherr...that might have been an alias though. He mostly went by a code name -- Magneto." In shock, a guilt-ridden Magnus mutters about how he should have known he was the one they should look for, Mimic puts a hand on his shoulder to comfort his teammate before asking Forge where they can find Magneto.

The world's center of commerce, the New York Stock Exchange seems to be at peace, all is normal. Yet in an instant, a massive explosion erupts and an entire walls is turned to rubble, the force of the blast throwing numerous civilians to the ground. It seems that the day man had been fearing had arrived, the X-Men were on the loose.

All of them having just escaped from maximum security facilities, they now band together to wreak havoc and get their revenge. The team is comprised of Charles Xavier, Cain Marko (his stepbrother), Johnny Storm the convict, Jessica Drew, Domino and Chamber.

Charles tells Cain that they are sticking with the original plan, to tear everything down, why use computers to destroy the economy when you can do it this way.

Cain asks Charles if they are also allowed to kill doing it this way and Xavier tells him that indeed, it is one of the perks of doing things this way.

Immediately, the Human Torch, speeds off in the sky, burning the running civilians, venting out his anger for what they did to him when they left him in solitary confinement.

Jessica has her legs wrapped around a terrified man but she tells him to stop whining as she has gone without the senses of smell, taste or vision (in one of her eyes) for an entirety of eight years.

A pair of optic blasts hit her in the chest, sending her flying back into a wall while the man escapes. Mimic shows himself and tells the X-Men that the Exiles can help them, as long as they stop their violence, killing humans is not the answer to their problems.

Charles swears as he realizes he can do nothing to Mimic who is wearing disruptors, he comes to the conclusion that they are courtesy of the traitor, Forge.

As Cain continues to bring the war to the Homo Sapiens he shouts out to the Exiles, asking them if they realize what Forge has done. His slaughtering of the mutants, the experimentation done on them and the fact that he took part in killing children before they could even be born.

Amidst their throwing of punches at one another T-Bird answers Cain, "I know of torture! But you attack innocents! What have these people done to you?!"

As Domino fires multiple bullets at the civilians she angrily replies how the people stood idly by as the mass extermination took place. It was they who voted for laws that would result in their deaths or imprisonment.

Morph knocks her out from behind, making jokes about how it is obviously not the people at the stock market who instilled the laws. However, Chamber blasts him from behind, with a strike that would kill an ordinary mortal though Morph manages to survive.

Johnny Storm becomes frustrated with the Exiles lack of cooperation and in a blaze he begins unleashing his fury as he shouts out for the death of the young X-Men. The blast of fire hits Mimic in the chest who simply tells Morph that it is time now. Time to take action.

As usual Morph jokes as he unleashes the team's secret weapon, a grappling device that grabs a hold of Xavier from behind as it wraps around his body. Charles shouts in frustration, "...a dampener.", meaning he is no longer at full power thanks to the Exiles.

One hundred miles from Tahiti, Magnus flies across the sands, supporting Blink and Nocturne who each stand upon their own metal disc. Magnus tells the two he can no longer get any transmissions from the other half of the team and suspects it to be the detention facility that is causing this problem.

Blink, seemingly ignoring the comment says that their flying in broad daylight is making them too visible and that she will teleport them. However, TJ instantly shouts out a firm no, recalling what happened last time Blink tried and the power scramblers nearly gave the three, seizures.

She continues to say that they are truly lucky that Magnus can get through to which he responds that its just barely, as he is having a difficult time.

As they approach the prison, Magnus prepares to go low but is redirected by Blink who advices him to come from above and land in the yard as it makes no difference now.

As they land, they realize the entire rock is abandoned and Nocturne believes Forge lied to them but not after Magnus picks up a radio transmission. It says that even though the personnel was evacuated twenty minutes ago, the prisoners are still inside. Magnus gasps and says, "God in heaven. There won't be enough time..."

Nocturne asks him what is wrong to which he responds in horror that the prisoners are all locked in down below in the facility and the facility has been set to self-destruct, with an atomic bomb.

Blink and Nocturne immediatley dash off, telling Magnus to contact Mimic to get the rest of the team to come help. They also tell him they need the blueprints of the facility because they need to get everyone out.

However, a stoic Magnus restrains them with energy and tells them, "You'll be safe on the beach. I'll transport the prisoners. And shield everyone from the blast."

Then, a look of sadness shadows his face as he tells them one last thing, "Magneto's not my father. But all the same...please don't tell him who I was. It wouldn't be fair."

The two girls try to protest and tell him he doesn't need to do this alone as he encases them in a spherical energy shield and sends them out to the beach with the words, "This is how it should be."

Back at the New York Stock Exchange, Thunderbird strikes Cain yet again, telling the beast to step down before he will have to be killed.

Mimic yells to John that no more lives shall be lost as he restrains Jessica and holds Johnny at bay with optic blasts.

Morph asks Mimic if he's firm about the non-destructive thing as he is having a hard time continuously dodging the blasts of energy from Chamber.

Thunderbird ceases the joker's whining by throwing Cain at Starsmore, taking out two foes in one hit. Morph then tells him that for a "bringer-of-death-type" he is actually quite handy but stops there when John tells him to shut up.

Domino struggles to free Charles of the dampener as he struggles and complains that it is constantly making him weaker. At last Domino rids it from the man's back and the two rise in triumph only to be knocked down again by a blast from Mimic who tells them that it is over.

Mimic assures Charles that he won't take him back to the facility but he will make sure Xavier never hurts anyone else, ever again.

However, as the three X-Men charge the leader of this world's X-Men they are effortlessly halted by a psychic attack. Charles then lifts Calvin off the ground and mocks him for his belief in his paradise-like world and the fact that he sees Professor X as his crippled father.

Calvin begins to beg Charles not to do it, as in Calvin's world Charles was his teacher, his father, it didn't need to end the way it was going.

Magnus walked alone down the hallway of the facility, liquefying the metal walls all around him, allowing the prisoners to finally feel freedom. Yet before they can even react, Magnus grants them all new life as countless energy shields rise to the skies, each one carrying a hero who will help change their world...and all it will cost is one life.

Magnus is amused that the atomic bomb is made completely of plastic, it seemed his father was the most feared of them all. Then, Magnus creates one last energy shield, around the entire facility, preparing for the explosion.

Calvin and Charles are reaching the climax of their battle elsewhere as Xavier explains he is the necessary evil to bring about good. He then tells Mimic that as his son he should know his father's vision to which Calvin replies as he drives his fist up into Charles' chin, pinning him to the wall, "I know my father's vision." With that he extends his bone claws into his "father's" brain, killing the man instantly and ending his reign.

Back at the facility in which Magneto was held, Magnus gives the final sacrifice as he remains at the epicenter of the blast, containing an atomic explosion within his shield, saving his friends.

Nocturne and Blink mourn but Clarice assures TJ that, after living under Erik's teachings her entire life she knows it had to be done and its what he -she directs Talia's gaze at Magneto- would have done.

Magneto seems intrigued about the young man's sacrifice and finds it strange that he and Magnus' names were so similar. And so he asks if in their world's the two had a connection with one another.

Blink looks at Mimic for assurance and then tells Erik that they did not, however Magnus was a great admirer of Magneto. She also told him that in her world, he was a teacher, one whose example all of them followed.

Magneto then decides if he is to live up to that reputation that he has a lot of work to do and so he calls the heroes together, becoming the man he was born to be.

The team wonders what is to happen next and Calvin tells them that Magneto will lead the heroes and that their first mission is to free the people of Phoenix from their comas.

Morph looks at Mimic and says, "He meant us, Calvin." Nocturne chimes in, listing all the mistakes they made and asking whether they can go home or leave the dimension.

However, she is interrupted when Morph notices and announces the arrival of a new girl. She introduces herself as Mariko Yashida, Sunfire, another individual "unhinged from time". She tells them that she was sent by the Timebroker to be their new team member.

The group seems astonished at how quickly Magnus is replaced and are even more frustrated with Timebroker when they learn that they are to be sent to their next mission immediatley and so the team is sent through a portal.

Arriving at their next location, some members gaze in astonishment as they recognize the setting while others are in the dark. Yet Mimic and Nocturne speak as one, "We're at The Trial of the Phoenix!"