They were born mutants--possessing powers of a genetic origin which made them outcasts of society. But one man -- Professor Charles Xavier -- brought them together to learn to use their unique gifts in the service of a world that hates and fears them...
Marvel 2000 Proudly Presents...
UNCANNY X-MEN ANNUAL #1
"DEATH OF A DREAM"
PART 12 (Conclusion)
Written by Cory Wiegel
From a story originally by Dino Pollard
"DEATH OF A DREAM"
PART 12 (Conclusion)
Written by Cory Wiegel
From a story originally by Dino Pollard
The doors to the mansion's foyer swung open as a storm raged outside and thunder rolled in the distance. The newly branded X-Men Omega walked into the room, rain water dripping from their uniforms and clothes. They gathered near the stairwell and looked to each other.
“Wow. That was intense,” Rogue observed. “Are we really doin' this, ya'll?”
Bishop nodded his head. “Yes. Gather your things and meet in the hangar bay in thirty minutes.”
“Where to, mon ami?” Gambit asked.
“I have a few ideas, but we'll decide that once we're in the air,” Bishop said.
Another voice broke into the conversation. “I have a place for you to go. “
X-Men Omega turned to the foyer's doorway. Angel was standing there, wings outstretched and dripping with rain water.
“Warren!” Psylocke exclaimed with a hint of relief. Angel walked into the foyer and the two embraced for a moment. When they released, he looked to and then to the rest of Bishop's team.
“I have a family estate in Colorado. It's no X-Mansion, but it should do for now.”
“Does this mean you're with us?” Shard asked.
“Yes and no,” Angel said unevenly. “On the one hand, I'm not sure if the super-hero life is for me anymore, but on the other hand I know I can't leave you all out in the cold. I want to do my part.”
“Thank you, Angel,” Bishop said with genuine gratitude. “Let's move, people. I have a feeling that we may not be welcome here for very much longer.”
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In a deliberate move to give their former teammates some much needed space, X-Men Alpha and the remaining members escaped the rain by entering the mansion on the opposite end of the foyer room. They found themselves in the recreation room adjacent to the pool. Rain pattered the windows. Wind whistled. The occasional roll of thunder could be heard in the distance. Silence filled the room as the men and women spread out among themselves to dry off, occasionally trading uncomfortable glances.
“Well, that escalated quickly...” Iceman broke the silence.
Beast cocked his head to the side as he dried off his glasses.
“Astute observation as always,” Beast remarked.
“This was a long time in coming,” Cyclops said with the shake of his head. “We're not X-Force, straddling some line between Xavier's way and Magneto's.”
“That a shot at the new guy?” Cannonball asked coyly.
“No, of course not,” Cyclops said. “I just mean that despite their differences, X-Men like Bishop and Gambit have always saw the world differently. I don't think they ever saw Xavier's dream as an ideal to live up to. They were always itching for a fight and preparing for the worst.”
“Eh, you could say the same 'bout me and a few others still hangin' around here,” Wolverine commented as he lit up a cigar.
“Quite true, mein freund,” Nightcrawler added. “There never has quite been an 'X-Men mold' to break. Professor Xavier found us all in very different places in our lives.”
“Perhaps that's true, but the one thing that has always bound us together is a willingness to strive to be better than those who hate and fear us,” Storm spoke up. “Should we be hunting down our enemies before they strike? Training constantly for a war that may never come? Match force with force at every turn as if might makes right? I think not.”
Silence fell upon them once again. After a moment, Cyclops ran a hand through his hair and sighed.
“I think that's enough discussion on the matter for now. Let's all just dry off and warm up. We can talk more when Bishop and his 'team' have cleared out and we've all had some time to think,” Cyclops said as he began to walk out of the room. “Until then, best to give them a wide berth.”
Everyone either followed Cyclops out of the recreation room or left it in a different direction. Before following her husband out, Phoenix stopped by the one new member of the team who was standing quietly near a wall.
“Are you alright, Clarice?” Phoenix asked the young woman. “This must be quite a lot to take in.”
“Yeah,” Blink said somberly. “That's one way to put it...”
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Rogue was always one to pack light, but Bishop's time table didn't give her much time to sort through a lot of her more personal belongings. This wouldn't be the first time an X-Man had to leave in a hurry with little to no notice. The bare essentials would do and she would have to send for the rest, that is if her former teammates were inclined to do so.
“Knock knock,” a voice said at the door, interrupting Rogue's thought process. She looked up from her bag and was surprised at who she saw. “Someone call about an early check-out?”
“Bobby. Hey...” she said as Iceman entered the room. “Ah figured you an' the rest of Cyke's squad would be keepin' your distance until all of th' black sheep cleared out.”
“Who, me? C'mon, lady. I'm the original rebel without a cause around here.”
Rogue rolled her eyes. “Kind of a vanilla rebel, but yeah, ah guess you got a point...”
“Vanilla?!” Iceman said in mock offense. “Geeze! Am I going to have to go for a little bit of a darker and edgier look to get in with the cool kids? Leather trench coat, shades, and spiky ice hair?”
Rogue snickered as she went back to packing her bag.
“Might be tryin' a little too hard if ya do that, sugah.”
Iceman plopped down onto the bed next to Rogue's bag as she packed, giving her a playful shrug.
“Oh, I don't know. I think I could rock it, Matrix style, if that's the vibe.”
Rogue's tone became a bit more somber. She didn't make eye contact as she packed.
“You seriously thinkin' about leavin' with Bishop an' us?”
“Honestly? I'm thinking more about stealing you for another powerless road trip,” Iceman said with his usual charm. Rogue smiled and shook her head.
“Yeah, like that last one went so well.”
“I don't know. We had some pretty good times up until around Seattle...”
A real knock came at Rogue's door. She and Iceman looked over to see Gambit standing there with his staff in one hand and a worn duffel bag in the other.
“Drake,” Gambit said coldly. Iceman's playful demeanor shifted, but not by much.
“LeBow... bow...”
Gambit ignored his former teammate.
“You ready, chere?”
“Yeah,” Rogue said as she zipped her bag and stood up from her bed. Iceman stood up with her and the two exchanged a somber glance. “Take care o' yourself, popsicle. Stay in touch.”
“Back at ya, mudcakes.”
The two exchanged a brief but warm hug before Rogue walked out of her former room with Gambit. Iceman wanted to say more to her and some of the others, but maybe Cyclops was right about giving them a wide berth. Only time could heal the sudden rift between the two teams. Still, something about picking a side until then just didn't feel right.
Maybe it was too soon for him to come back to the X-Men...
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Wolverine sat on a stool next to his motorcycle as he stared out of the open garage doors across the estate. The winds were beginning to calm and the thunder less frequent, but the rain was still pouring pretty heavily. He was already three beers deep into a case of Molson Canadian, but it was the distant sounds and smells of the nearby orchards that calmed him the most.
*BAMF*
An explosion of smoke and brimstone broke the peace and quiet that Wolverine sought. If it was the indication of almost anyone else arriving he would be annoyed, but not with Nightcrawler.
“Hey elf,” he said without breaking his thousand yard stare.
Nightcrawler dropped down from the workbench he teleported onto and approached Wolverine, flicking the beer case with his tail.
“Tsk tsk. Drinking alone, Logan?”
“Not anymore I ain't,” Wolverine said as he picked up a beer and tossed it to his friend. Nightcrawler caught it with ease and popped it open. “If somethin's on yer mind that ought ta help you get it out.”
“Ah, you know me too well,” Nightcrawler said with a sigh. He crouched beside Wolverine and took a swig from the Molson.
Wolverine cut to the chase. “Let's hear it. You're leavin' too, yeah?”
“Regretfully, I am,” Nightcrawler said as he stared out the garage door with Wolverine. “After the professor passed, I spoke with a man at his memorial who was both a priest and grief counselor --”
Wolverine grumbled and glared sharply at his friend.
“I don't think I like where this is goin'...”
Nightcrawler nodded. “Yes, I know your feelings about The Church,” he said. “However, this priest – Father Matthews – said that the Vatican has begun taking a special interest in our affairs of late.”
“They lookin' for an exorcist t' help us all pray the mutie away?” Wolverine asked as he took a large drink from his beer, nearly finishing it.
“Not quite, but they are providing an opportunity for me to help bridge the gap between our world and theirs,” Nightcrawler said with some honest intrigue. “It has the potential to be... an interesting new challenge... and a break from this way of life...”
Wolverine nodded. What was one more friend that he had to say goodbye to that day? He finished off his beer, tossed the can into a nearby pile of his already finished beers, and went for another.
“Welp, if you're leavin' you ain't leavin' sober,” Wolverine said as he popped open another beer and held it up to his friend. “Drink up, elf. To old friends an' new beginnings.”
“Yes, prost,” he toasted. “To old friends and to new beginnings.”
The two clanked beer cans and drank, then returned their gaze to the open garage and the rain pouring down over the Xavier Estate. It would be the last time they saw each other for some time.
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After gathering their things and taking a moment to say goodbye to whoever would still speak to them, X-Men Omega met at the hangar bay as instructed.
“It looks like that's all of us,” Shard observed.
“Yes. Is everyone ready?” Bishop asked.
“Looks like it,” Rogue said with a nod. “Ah think it's now or never.”
“Which plane are we loading into?” Quicksilver asked, looking at the Blackbird and the Aurora.
“The Aurora,” Angel said. “The Blackbird has always belonged here. Scott may take it more personally than he already has if we leave with it.”
“Besides, we snatched the Aurora fair 'n square,” Gambit said with a sly grin. Rogue smirked.
Bishop nodded. “It's agreed then. Let's go.”
As X-Men Omega picked up their begans and walked towards the Aurora to depart, a bright pink and lavender portal opened near X-Men Omega. Clarice Ferguson – Blink – stepped out, holding a duffle bag with the Massachusetts Academy logo on it.
“Wait for me!” she insisted as the portal closed behind her.
Bishop looks back to his team, uncertain. They were just as at a loss for words as him.
“Clarice,” Psylocke said. She set her bag down and approached the young girl. “You... want to join us? Are you sure?”
“Yes. Please. Banshee sent me here because he agreed I didn't need a school like the other students. I need a chance to make a difference and I'm ready to do just that,” Blink explained. “Cyclops and his wife and everyone else... maybe they can offer me that, but I'm not a child and I don't think they see that. The life I lived in that other reality... I know what's on the line. I'm ready to fight!”
Psylocke looked back to Bishop, who nodded approvingly.
“Well then,” Bishop said. “Welcome to X-Men Omega, Blink.”
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Cyclops and Phoenix were sitting quietly in the headmaster's office, formerly Professor X's study, when Phoenix sensed a sudden change in the occupancy of the estate.
“They're gone now,” she said softly. X-Men Omega must have loaded into the Aurora and set off to their next destination.
“Bobby and Kurt?” Cyclops asked simply.
“Not yet, but they will be soon.”
Cyclops and Phoenix suddenly felt all the more lonely.
“Should I have let them leave?” Cyclops wondered aloud. Phoenix frowned softly.
“I'm not sure that you had much of a choice.”
“It sure didn't seem that way,” Cyclops remarked. He began to think back to his terrifying dream just the night before. “I can't help but wonder how much choice any of us have these days...”
“Fret not, oh fearless leader,” a voice said from the doorway of the library. When Cyclops looked up, he saw Beast, Storm, Cannonball, and Wolverine standing there. Beast continued, “It is always darkest just before the day dawneth.”
Cyclops smirked weakly. “Are we talking astronomically or theologically?”
“Does it matter?” Storm asked. Cyclops shrugged.
“I guess not.”
After a moment, Phoenix took her husband's hand and looked him in the eye.
“Well. Are you going to say it?”
Cyclops groaned. “Do I really have to?”
“If you don't then I will,” Wolverine said with a mischievous grin.
“Well, we can't have that...” Cyclops grumbled as he stood up in front of Xavier's desk and faced his teammates. “Alright then. We've got a world to change. To me, my X-Men.”
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NEXT ISSUE: That's it! With this, Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) and X-Men (Vol. 1) have come to an end. In their place, X-Men Alpha and X-Men Omega will launch!
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“Wow. That was intense,” Rogue observed. “Are we really doin' this, ya'll?”
Bishop nodded his head. “Yes. Gather your things and meet in the hangar bay in thirty minutes.”
“Where to, mon ami?” Gambit asked.
“I have a few ideas, but we'll decide that once we're in the air,” Bishop said.
Another voice broke into the conversation. “I have a place for you to go. “
X-Men Omega turned to the foyer's doorway. Angel was standing there, wings outstretched and dripping with rain water.
“Warren!” Psylocke exclaimed with a hint of relief. Angel walked into the foyer and the two embraced for a moment. When they released, he looked to and then to the rest of Bishop's team.
“I have a family estate in Colorado. It's no X-Mansion, but it should do for now.”
“Does this mean you're with us?” Shard asked.
“Yes and no,” Angel said unevenly. “On the one hand, I'm not sure if the super-hero life is for me anymore, but on the other hand I know I can't leave you all out in the cold. I want to do my part.”
“Thank you, Angel,” Bishop said with genuine gratitude. “Let's move, people. I have a feeling that we may not be welcome here for very much longer.”
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In a deliberate move to give their former teammates some much needed space, X-Men Alpha and the remaining members escaped the rain by entering the mansion on the opposite end of the foyer room. They found themselves in the recreation room adjacent to the pool. Rain pattered the windows. Wind whistled. The occasional roll of thunder could be heard in the distance. Silence filled the room as the men and women spread out among themselves to dry off, occasionally trading uncomfortable glances.
“Well, that escalated quickly...” Iceman broke the silence.
Beast cocked his head to the side as he dried off his glasses.
“Astute observation as always,” Beast remarked.
“This was a long time in coming,” Cyclops said with the shake of his head. “We're not X-Force, straddling some line between Xavier's way and Magneto's.”
“That a shot at the new guy?” Cannonball asked coyly.
“No, of course not,” Cyclops said. “I just mean that despite their differences, X-Men like Bishop and Gambit have always saw the world differently. I don't think they ever saw Xavier's dream as an ideal to live up to. They were always itching for a fight and preparing for the worst.”
“Eh, you could say the same 'bout me and a few others still hangin' around here,” Wolverine commented as he lit up a cigar.
“Quite true, mein freund,” Nightcrawler added. “There never has quite been an 'X-Men mold' to break. Professor Xavier found us all in very different places in our lives.”
“Perhaps that's true, but the one thing that has always bound us together is a willingness to strive to be better than those who hate and fear us,” Storm spoke up. “Should we be hunting down our enemies before they strike? Training constantly for a war that may never come? Match force with force at every turn as if might makes right? I think not.”
Silence fell upon them once again. After a moment, Cyclops ran a hand through his hair and sighed.
“I think that's enough discussion on the matter for now. Let's all just dry off and warm up. We can talk more when Bishop and his 'team' have cleared out and we've all had some time to think,” Cyclops said as he began to walk out of the room. “Until then, best to give them a wide berth.”
Everyone either followed Cyclops out of the recreation room or left it in a different direction. Before following her husband out, Phoenix stopped by the one new member of the team who was standing quietly near a wall.
“Are you alright, Clarice?” Phoenix asked the young woman. “This must be quite a lot to take in.”
“Yeah,” Blink said somberly. “That's one way to put it...”
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Rogue was always one to pack light, but Bishop's time table didn't give her much time to sort through a lot of her more personal belongings. This wouldn't be the first time an X-Man had to leave in a hurry with little to no notice. The bare essentials would do and she would have to send for the rest, that is if her former teammates were inclined to do so.
“Knock knock,” a voice said at the door, interrupting Rogue's thought process. She looked up from her bag and was surprised at who she saw. “Someone call about an early check-out?”
“Bobby. Hey...” she said as Iceman entered the room. “Ah figured you an' the rest of Cyke's squad would be keepin' your distance until all of th' black sheep cleared out.”
“Who, me? C'mon, lady. I'm the original rebel without a cause around here.”
Rogue rolled her eyes. “Kind of a vanilla rebel, but yeah, ah guess you got a point...”
“Vanilla?!” Iceman said in mock offense. “Geeze! Am I going to have to go for a little bit of a darker and edgier look to get in with the cool kids? Leather trench coat, shades, and spiky ice hair?”
Rogue snickered as she went back to packing her bag.
“Might be tryin' a little too hard if ya do that, sugah.”
Iceman plopped down onto the bed next to Rogue's bag as she packed, giving her a playful shrug.
“Oh, I don't know. I think I could rock it, Matrix style, if that's the vibe.”
Rogue's tone became a bit more somber. She didn't make eye contact as she packed.
“You seriously thinkin' about leavin' with Bishop an' us?”
“Honestly? I'm thinking more about stealing you for another powerless road trip,” Iceman said with his usual charm. Rogue smiled and shook her head.
“Yeah, like that last one went so well.”
“I don't know. We had some pretty good times up until around Seattle...”
A real knock came at Rogue's door. She and Iceman looked over to see Gambit standing there with his staff in one hand and a worn duffel bag in the other.
“Drake,” Gambit said coldly. Iceman's playful demeanor shifted, but not by much.
“LeBow... bow...”
Gambit ignored his former teammate.
“You ready, chere?”
“Yeah,” Rogue said as she zipped her bag and stood up from her bed. Iceman stood up with her and the two exchanged a somber glance. “Take care o' yourself, popsicle. Stay in touch.”
“Back at ya, mudcakes.”
The two exchanged a brief but warm hug before Rogue walked out of her former room with Gambit. Iceman wanted to say more to her and some of the others, but maybe Cyclops was right about giving them a wide berth. Only time could heal the sudden rift between the two teams. Still, something about picking a side until then just didn't feel right.
Maybe it was too soon for him to come back to the X-Men...
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Wolverine sat on a stool next to his motorcycle as he stared out of the open garage doors across the estate. The winds were beginning to calm and the thunder less frequent, but the rain was still pouring pretty heavily. He was already three beers deep into a case of Molson Canadian, but it was the distant sounds and smells of the nearby orchards that calmed him the most.
*BAMF*
An explosion of smoke and brimstone broke the peace and quiet that Wolverine sought. If it was the indication of almost anyone else arriving he would be annoyed, but not with Nightcrawler.
“Hey elf,” he said without breaking his thousand yard stare.
Nightcrawler dropped down from the workbench he teleported onto and approached Wolverine, flicking the beer case with his tail.
“Tsk tsk. Drinking alone, Logan?”
“Not anymore I ain't,” Wolverine said as he picked up a beer and tossed it to his friend. Nightcrawler caught it with ease and popped it open. “If somethin's on yer mind that ought ta help you get it out.”
“Ah, you know me too well,” Nightcrawler said with a sigh. He crouched beside Wolverine and took a swig from the Molson.
Wolverine cut to the chase. “Let's hear it. You're leavin' too, yeah?”
“Regretfully, I am,” Nightcrawler said as he stared out the garage door with Wolverine. “After the professor passed, I spoke with a man at his memorial who was both a priest and grief counselor --”
Wolverine grumbled and glared sharply at his friend.
“I don't think I like where this is goin'...”
Nightcrawler nodded. “Yes, I know your feelings about The Church,” he said. “However, this priest – Father Matthews – said that the Vatican has begun taking a special interest in our affairs of late.”
“They lookin' for an exorcist t' help us all pray the mutie away?” Wolverine asked as he took a large drink from his beer, nearly finishing it.
“Not quite, but they are providing an opportunity for me to help bridge the gap between our world and theirs,” Nightcrawler said with some honest intrigue. “It has the potential to be... an interesting new challenge... and a break from this way of life...”
Wolverine nodded. What was one more friend that he had to say goodbye to that day? He finished off his beer, tossed the can into a nearby pile of his already finished beers, and went for another.
“Welp, if you're leavin' you ain't leavin' sober,” Wolverine said as he popped open another beer and held it up to his friend. “Drink up, elf. To old friends an' new beginnings.”
“Yes, prost,” he toasted. “To old friends and to new beginnings.”
The two clanked beer cans and drank, then returned their gaze to the open garage and the rain pouring down over the Xavier Estate. It would be the last time they saw each other for some time.
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After gathering their things and taking a moment to say goodbye to whoever would still speak to them, X-Men Omega met at the hangar bay as instructed.
“It looks like that's all of us,” Shard observed.
“Yes. Is everyone ready?” Bishop asked.
“Looks like it,” Rogue said with a nod. “Ah think it's now or never.”
“Which plane are we loading into?” Quicksilver asked, looking at the Blackbird and the Aurora.
“The Aurora,” Angel said. “The Blackbird has always belonged here. Scott may take it more personally than he already has if we leave with it.”
“Besides, we snatched the Aurora fair 'n square,” Gambit said with a sly grin. Rogue smirked.
Bishop nodded. “It's agreed then. Let's go.”
As X-Men Omega picked up their begans and walked towards the Aurora to depart, a bright pink and lavender portal opened near X-Men Omega. Clarice Ferguson – Blink – stepped out, holding a duffle bag with the Massachusetts Academy logo on it.
“Wait for me!” she insisted as the portal closed behind her.
Bishop looks back to his team, uncertain. They were just as at a loss for words as him.
“Clarice,” Psylocke said. She set her bag down and approached the young girl. “You... want to join us? Are you sure?”
“Yes. Please. Banshee sent me here because he agreed I didn't need a school like the other students. I need a chance to make a difference and I'm ready to do just that,” Blink explained. “Cyclops and his wife and everyone else... maybe they can offer me that, but I'm not a child and I don't think they see that. The life I lived in that other reality... I know what's on the line. I'm ready to fight!”
Psylocke looked back to Bishop, who nodded approvingly.
“Well then,” Bishop said. “Welcome to X-Men Omega, Blink.”
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Cyclops and Phoenix were sitting quietly in the headmaster's office, formerly Professor X's study, when Phoenix sensed a sudden change in the occupancy of the estate.
“They're gone now,” she said softly. X-Men Omega must have loaded into the Aurora and set off to their next destination.
“Bobby and Kurt?” Cyclops asked simply.
“Not yet, but they will be soon.”
Cyclops and Phoenix suddenly felt all the more lonely.
“Should I have let them leave?” Cyclops wondered aloud. Phoenix frowned softly.
“I'm not sure that you had much of a choice.”
“It sure didn't seem that way,” Cyclops remarked. He began to think back to his terrifying dream just the night before. “I can't help but wonder how much choice any of us have these days...”
“Fret not, oh fearless leader,” a voice said from the doorway of the library. When Cyclops looked up, he saw Beast, Storm, Cannonball, and Wolverine standing there. Beast continued, “It is always darkest just before the day dawneth.”
Cyclops smirked weakly. “Are we talking astronomically or theologically?”
“Does it matter?” Storm asked. Cyclops shrugged.
“I guess not.”
After a moment, Phoenix took her husband's hand and looked him in the eye.
“Well. Are you going to say it?”
Cyclops groaned. “Do I really have to?”
“If you don't then I will,” Wolverine said with a mischievous grin.
“Well, we can't have that...” Cyclops grumbled as he stood up in front of Xavier's desk and faced his teammates. “Alright then. We've got a world to change. To me, my X-Men.”
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NEXT ISSUE: That's it! With this, Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) and X-Men (Vol. 1) have come to an end. In their place, X-Men Alpha and X-Men Omega will launch!
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