With nowhere else to turn, the remaining mutants of Earth have come for sanctuary at Xavier Institute. Gangs are being formed, alliances forged, and tension is growing. Xavier's is becoming a powder keg that's about to blow! Starring the Astonishing X-Men!
Guatemala: Three soldiers stand inside of a opening in a brick wall surrounding a town. Behind them can be seen forests and two helicopters landing.
One soldier named Raul who is crouching appears to be ready to shoot something, while the others tell him that the Americans must be in the choppers and they are coming for this unseen foe.
He refuses to let her live and he he brings up the fact at how she burned the faces of Luis and Jorge. As he is about to shoot a man in a white suit places his hand on Raul's shoulder.
He tells Raul that he is living in complete bliss and that he has no desire to hurt anyone. The man is caught off guard but in a moment is smiling with his comrades.
Manuel however stares at the devastation, truly realizing what Amara had done. She remembers that after Antonio died she had gone underground and eventually resurfaced in Guatemala where she began to feed her desire. Which was for everything to burn!
Walking through the flames nonchalantly Manuel approaches Amara who threatens to take his life. They converse about their past relationship and how he controlled her. Manuel does it again, calming her down by raising her dopamine and serotonin levels so that the chemical imbalance in her brain is, at least temporarily, cured. Empath then walks with her to ONE chopper and brings her to the Xavier Institute, where refugees are forced to sleep in tents on the Academy's grounds.
Now at the Institute, Amara is in her human form and she sits on a bench talking about her former relationships with both Empath and Antonio. Another resident of the 198 camp, Johnny Dee listens to her and tells her that she can trust him unlike Empath and Amara thanks him for it.
Then Outlaw walks up to interrupt the two and introduces herself as Inez, whom Amara identifies as the cowgirl. The two bond quite quickly as Inez takes Amara off to the tent the two will sleep in. Amara says goodbye to Johnny and Inez mentions that he is cute, except for the tentacles that come from the beast living on his chest.
Outlaw then explains to Magma that even though Amara was once a teacher at the Institute, thanks to the damage, Magma would have to stay in a tent with Inez and Skids.
Outlaw ends the conversation however when she sees the four mutants around the flag of The 198 (Fever Pitch, Erg, Sack and Arclight). She is outraged that they are at the Institute, since they are criminals.
Outlaw explains that it is Cyclops' doing, and besides most mutants have bad relationships with the law anyway. Amara however says that Arclight is a murder to which Inez replies that Magma came pretty close herself.
Inez then puts her hands on Amara's shoulders and looks her in the eyes. She tells her that the only way anyone will be able to get through this tragedy is if they leave the past behind and start over.
At that moment Cyclops comes onto the scene and reunites with Magma. He tries to comfort her, only for her to explain that she is not okay knowing that her feelings are being controlled by Empath.
Scott apologizes for using Manuel but says it was their only option and Amara responds by saying that she understands his reasoning.
At that moment the four members of The 198 look on at the conversing Cyclops, Magma and Outlaw. Fever Pitch and Sack complain about the fact that no matter what the two groups will always be divided.
Cyclops and Magma continue their conversation, bringing up the fact that things have changed drastically since Amara last taught at the Institute, but that her experience could be useful.
As she is about to respond, someone catches her attention and she asks Cyclops who the man in black is to which he responds, "that is the enigmatic Mr. M." Amara notices that he has amassed quite a large crowd.
Mr. M sits on a crate, warning Leech to watch out for the teeth of the pterodactyl M had created. He then decides to evolve it before it will cause any problems and it bursts into a flurry of butterflies.
Leech is utterly amazed and asks M to make another creature, this time a zombie rabbit, but Mr. M says that he may do it later but at the moment he has something else to do.
M approaches a woman whose head is covered by a bandanna. He says to her, "it's Lorelei, isn't it?" She seems surprised that he knows her name and questions how he does.
But he never answers as he reaches out his hand and grabs her bandanna. He asks what they have done to her but she begs him not to take off her bandanna and reveal her shame.
But he gently says to her, "Don't worry...I can fix it." and before the very eyes of all the onlookers her prehensile hair slowly begins to regrow itself.
Tears roll down her cheeks as he alters the molecular structure of her hair, reviving her mutancy...it is this awesome power that makes ONE deem Mr. M a very dangerous threat.
At the War Council of the X-Men sits Kitty Pryde, Scott Summers, Emma Frost, Hank McCoy and Lucas Bishop who are all listening to Valerie Cooper of ONE explain that Mr. M is indeed an Omega-level mutant.
Scott says that the X-Men will keep an eye on M but Cooper is not going to let it slide so easy. She explains that her sources tell her that Mr. M almost flattened half of Manhattan at one point in time.
Bishop confirms this, as he was there, but he tries to tell Cooper that Mr. M means no harm. Val then brings up the Sentinels but Cyclops firmly states, "I said--we'll keep an eye on him."
"As will we." Valerie Cooper says.
The subject changes then, to the fact that the numerous mutants on the Institute grounds need to be moved to a relocation center.
Beast makes a connection to the Japanese-American internment camps but Cooper hastily states that it is nothing like that and that this program is for the mutant's safety and solely voluntary.
Kitty asks if that means the mutants can come and go as they please to which Val says no, since the ONE needs to execute some sort of control.
Kitty calls it a concentration camp and argues with Cooper about how everything points to it being one such as Sentinels guarding the inside of the Institute. Kitty then says, "What's next on the agenda? Communal showers?"
The conversation is silenced and Kitty is unable to bear it anymore, leaving the War Room. The X-Men try to explain Kitty's behavior to Valerie. Emma says that she's an attention seeker while Hank brings up the fact that the sister of her grandfather died in Auschwitz.
So, once again Cooper states, "We are not running a prison here."
On the grounds of the Institute, some ONE soldiers guard the gate into and out of the Institute. One asks Erg to step back who has his companions, Sack and Fever Pitch standing at his side.
Another officer approaches the three and asks if there is a problem, to which Erg says that "Problem is. This jerk is in my face." While the ONE officer defends himself by saying he's just trying to explain that the gate cannot be opened.
Fever Pitch says that the three just want to go outside and the officers ask why. The three come up with a bunch of unlikely statements such as wanting to take a stroll or going to pick flowers.
The ONE tells them that the estate has over ten square kilometers of woodland that they can stroll around because if they leave their protection will not be guaranteed.
Fever Pitch retorts that with his mutant abilities he does not need protection. But the clever ONE officer says, "I assume that's what you cam here for."
Sack who is also arguing with an ONE officer asks Erg if he can eat him...
Still another ONE officer watches the scene from the guard room next to the gate, contacting Cooper he says that trouble is brewing at the front gate.
Val Cooper is walking out of the Institute to an ONE vehicle and says she's on her way and sends two Sentinels to the gate.
When Cyclops asks if there is trouble she asks him if he knows how many mutants on the Institute grounds have been suspected of homicide.
Beast questioningly answers, "All of them?"
Back at the gate Erg is removing his right eye patch cause he sees talking is getting him nowhere. A blast of energy pours out, throwing a Sentinel on his back.
Sack is also attacking ONE personnel, he is on top of a guard who screams in terror as Sack slowly begins to envelop him with the slime-like substance that makes up his body.
Meanwhile Fever Pitch fires blasts of flame at the door while the ONE is preoccupied with his partners. However the hand of a Sentinel gets between his flames and the door.
Now two Sentinels battle Fever Pitch and Erg, telling the two mutants to refrain from using their powers...for their own safety.
Erg remains bitter and sarcastic and continues to blast the Sentinel. The Sentinel begins to tell them to get on the ground when Arclight and Mammomax rush into the fight to aid the other three.
Beast and Cooper both arrive at the same time to see Mammomax, Arclight, Erg and Fever Pitch all working together to try and knock the two Sentinels down.
One Sentinel asks for permission to use force, or else he is going to fall. He is told he can use low-power blasts but before either group can react the two teams are divided by a giant force field.
The man in the Sentinel continues speaking to the ONE command center and says that offensive is no longer needed as the threat no longer exists.
Erg turns to Mr. M and asks him if he made the force field, and whose side he is on. Mr. M simply replies, "It's far too nice a day to be fighting."
He then throws Sack off the fallen ONE guard and all fighting seems to have ceased. Val contacts General Lazer to tell him that everything is under control.
Lazer tells her that it is not her control, then proceeds to tell her to see him at his office tomorrow at nine in the morning.
He finishes by saying that The 198 is possibly the most dangerous, unstable group ever in one place...who knows what they are capable of.
Later on, in the darkness of night, Johnny Dee sits on his bed in his tent thinking about Magma's incredible power and how all the information to make that power is encoded in her DNA.
The DNA that is in the stands of hair he holds in his hand. He brings them closer to the face of the beast on his chest and then violently shoves them into his gaping mouth.
He wrestles with it for a time and then it regurgitates what looks to be the shell of an oyster-like creature.
Johnny Dee holds it in his hand and as it opens a gleaming light begins to seep through the opening. He smiles as it is fully opened to reveal a living, naked, miniature Magma that he now holds in the palm of his hand.
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