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spiralcass · 11 months

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NEW X-MEN: THE ANIMATED SERIES - SEASON 1, EPISODE 11

We open in the school’s gymnasium, where Dani, Karma, Nightcrawler, Beast, and Northstar are decorating for the school’s winter dance, while Dazzler and her band are getting set up on the stage. The boys are all using their powers to speed things up, while Dani is hanging streamers with her bow and arrows. Karma thinks they’re all just showing off.

Dani just hopes the kids all have fun tonight. What the kids have been undertaking these past three months has been experimental and so different from when they were students (Northstar quick to butt in and mention he got a REAL education and was never a student here), and it can’t have been an easy adjustment for a lot of them. She knows adjusting to becoming a teacher hasn’t been easy for her.

Xuan mentions she was already working as a librarian before she got Jean’s call, so it wasn’t too much of a change for her, but the others are inclined to agree. It’s been more fun than they’ve thought though, Kurt and Beast by virtue of having found kids they can share their passions with, Nightcrawler mentioning a girl named Pixie as someone with a great deal of enthusiasm for the thespian arts, while Beast think Ms. Washington has the potential to be the next great Mutant scientist. They turn their attention to Northstar, who just says he’s been happy to help a kid in a way he wasn’t expecting to.

Dazzler then calls over to them, double-checking how much time they’ll have after the dance’s king and queen are announced.

Beast gives them an answer, while Xuan and Jean-Paul note how outdated this tradition is.

NORTHSTAR: “It could be a king and a king.”

KARMA: “Or a queen and a queen.”

Dani agrees with them in concept, but come on, they’ve been paying attention to the kids. Are they really gonna act like they don’t already know who’s gonna win?

The others laugh, unable to argue.

BEAST: “Well, I suppose they’ll be having a more fun night than everyone else then.” He smiles wistfully. “Oh, to be a boy again.”

We cut to a little boy sitting in a modest kitchen, wheeling a toy truck back and forth across a table. We then see his mother, a conservatively dressed woman with a cross around her neck, preparing dinner.

After a few moments of peace, both of them turn in horror as a gun clocks.

WOMAN: “W…William?”

Stryker, several years younger than he is in the present, stands before his wife and child with a gun raised, his hands shaking, and his eyes bulging and vomiting tears.

STRYKER: “Marcy…Jason…God rest your souls.”

Stryker repeatedly shoots his wife and child, killing them. He drops the gun before he himself drops to his knees. He looks down, away from the site he just made, and screams.

But eventually, he breaths.

STRYKER: “Be gone, demons.”

In the present, Stryker stands tall, entirely cold and composed, dressed in ornate robes as opposed to his usual suit. He has faced many setbacks, but he has persisted. And now, with the new tools God has blessed him with, it is finally time to end his war with the X-Men.

As we pan out, we see he stands in a massive factory - one packed with Sentinels.

In the Institute, Julian, (wearing a fancy shirt with an especially douchey collar) and Sofia are playing ping-pong, using their powers to maneuver their paddles instead of their hands.

JULIAN: “It’s a shame this school doesn’t have a ping-pong team. You’d kill at it and I’d get to see you moving around in a cute uniform.”

SOFIA: “Are my leotards and training costume not enough for you?”

JULIAN: “With you beautiful, enough is never enough.”

As Sofia blushes, more sheepishly than usual, Julian grabs his paddle with his hand to catch Sofia off guard and score a point.

SOFIA: “You lousy cheater!”

JULIAN: “Oh come on, you know I’d never cheat on you.”

Sofia clenches her fists.

As Sofia’s winds retrieve the ball, a panicked Brian runs in, shouting that the two of them need to get outside immediately. Something’s happening to Mercury and Dust and he’s not sure what.

The three rush outside to find Cessily and Sooraya congealed in their liquid and sand forms, stretching out and expanding. Students all around them are watching with concern.

They’re horrified, with Sofia asking why Brian got them instead of the X-Men. They need real help!

Julian tells her not to worry, and says he’s got this. He lights up and begins using his telekinesis on the girls…and starts using them to spell out letters, the amorphous blob of the girls not only gaining definition, but becoming beautiful as the metal coasts the sand to create a metallic sand print, as Cessily and Sooraya’s faces appear on them, giggling. As Sofia questions what the Hell’s going on, Julian says they can finish the rest.

Sofia’s jaw drops as the girls reach their final form, their merged bodies spelling out, “Sofia, will you go to the dance with me?”

As Sofia stands speechless, Brian rests an arm on Julian’s shoulder as he faces her, and the crowd lets out an echo of “Awww”s. Julian tells her he’s tired of all the flirting. They both obviously like each other, so they should just be together. And the dance is the perfect place to make it official.

Sofia questions why he’s asking her like THIS.

JULIAN: “What? Too much? We were talking it over, thinking I should ask you out in a “Mutant” way, and this was what we came up with.”

Cessily and Sooraya untangle themselves and retake their humanoid forms. Honestly, they just wanted to see if they COULD pull that off. Cessily scratches the back of her head, admitting she was the one who needed Julian’s help, while Soo could do it all on her own.

Brian then enthusiastically reminds Sofia she still hasn’t answered.

JULIAN: “Don’t rush her, man. But you will go with me, right?”

Sofia struggles to answer. Everyone’s faces, especially Julian’s, fall, as Sofia starts tearing up.

SOFIA: “I’m sorry!”

Sofia blows her friends away with a single, powerful wind, before flying off.

Everyone is concerned and, for once in his life, Julian is speechless.

Cyclops is working in his office when there’s a knock on the door. When he doesn’t respond and just keeps working, Emma walks in anyway. Without even looking up from his computer, Scott tells her this better be about business.

EMMA: “Actually, I was going to ask you and Jean to skip the dance so your dreariness didn’t bring down the children’s mood, but it seems you’ve already taken it upon yourself to stay preoccupied.”

Scott ignores her.

EMMA: “Fine, yes, if you’re going to keep being a baby, I have intel.”

As Scott may recall, in her less noble days, she and Shaw were two of the main bankrollers of companies producing Sentinels, death machines designed only for killing Mutants. Of course, this is one of her many regrets, but she didn’t burn every bridge she had there. She just received a tip that a Chinese manufacturer recently fulfilled an order for over two dozen Sentinels. And, of course, a quick look into this revealed that Cassandra Nova was the recipient.

Scott slams his fist down. It's bad enough they’ve let the Purifier situation drag on as long as they have, but for this mad woman to go around thinking she’s Xavier’s twin sister as she’s causing all this pain is just insulting. Emma questions his disbelief regarding the info Jean picked up from Nova’s mind, but Scott tells her flatly that if Xavier had a sister, he’d know.

In any case, Scott has another reason to be frustrated: they’re understaffed. Kitty’s off visiting her dad on Genosha, Jean and Storm are providing relief in Kenya, Sunspot is doing "something" about rebuilding his family business, and Laura may be part of the team now, but she's still a student first, and he doesn't want to deny her her first dance.

Emma thinks it's no problem. The two of them will handle things themselves. Scott can obliterate the Sentinels before they go online, and, even if Nova happens to be present, with the knowledge Nova had removed it from them previously, Emma was able to forge new mental defenses.

EMMA: "Who knows? Maybe we can even talk about what's really on your mind on the way."

Emma walks out, saying she'll meet him in the hangar bay in 20 minutes, before Scott can even respond.

In the weight room, Brian tries talking to Julian as he works out his anger on a punching bag. None of Brian's attempts to change the subject work. Julian just doesn't get it! What's Sofia's problem?!

As Julian takes a moment to stop and breathe, Brian tells him he's really sorry it didn't work out, but maybe this is for the best. He has other people who care about him. Maybe he could go with one of them.

BRIAN: "Maybe you'd wanna go with me."

Julian's eyes widen before he punches the bag again, this time using his TK to knock it off its chain and smash it.

JULIAN: "Get real, Brian."

Julian grabs his towel, leaving behind a heartbroken Brian as he sulks off.

In Sofia and Noriko's room, Sofia is buried under her blankets and Nori is trying to get her out of there.

NORIKO: "Come on, Princess, I saw how much you paid for your dress, and I'm not letting that be a waste just because you made the best decision of your life and said no to Keller. What's up?"

Sofia blows the covers partially off herself, still crying. She likes Julian. She likes him a lot. But she's also scared. Back at the Massachusetts Academy, she nearly killed a man in her rage. And on Halloween, she saw, she felt, her worst fear: becoming like her father.

NORIKO: "Please don't tell me you're scared you'll hurt the jerk."

SOFIA: "No. I would never hurt him. I fear that the less kind parts of him would bring out the worst in myself. A boyfriend is different from a friend. I cannot risk him influencing me in that way."

Noriko sits down next to her. She's sorry she's dealing with this. For what it's worth, she was the one who talked her down from killing Shaw, and she still can't even imagine her turning out like her dick of a dad. And if Keller isn't the biggest dick of all time, he'll understand if she tells him this. Either way, she owes herself the fun of going to the dance, date or no. Do it for her. Do it for her followers.

Sofia cracks a small smile as she wipes her eyes.

SOFIA: "I'm trying not to call them "followers" anymore. The perfect cute nickname could boost engagement by multiples."

NORIKO: "There's my ridiculous girl!"

In the Blackbird, Scott is piloting, while Emma is filing her nails. With Scott clearly not listening, Emma is yammering on about some of the most debacherous times she had back in the Hellfire Club, clearly intentionally trying to get a reaction out of the stone faced hero. Eventually, she’s successful, with Scott shouting at her that even if she doesn’t respect him or his wishes, she should at least be mentally preparing herself for battle.

Emma stops filing her nails and looks at Scott.

EMMA: “Where do you see yourself in ten years?”

SCOTT: “I’m sorry?”

EMMA: “Ten years. Where do you see yourself? I envision myself laying on a stunning beach, mojito in hand, reading the trashiest romance novel I can get my hands on as I look out at the sea with the knowledge that I’ve eliminated all threats to Mutantkind.”

Scott, ignoring the absurdity of what she just said, asks what this has to do with anything. Emma tells him that if he knows where he’s going to wind up, with complete faith it will happen, then he has nothing to worry about going into a battle, because he can be sure he’ll make it through alive.

SCOTT: “That’s not how that works.”

EMMA: “For normal people, maybe. You’re a soldier who’s been fighting all forms of monsters, gods, and otherwise evil beings, yours truly included, since you were 16. You’ve faced endless hardships. You’re not about to die breaking toys you’ve smashed a million times.”

There’s a pause.

SCOTT: “Tell you what: I’ll say where I see myself in ten years if you tell me a single hardship you’ve faced since you were 16. And things that happened while you were a supervillain don’t count.”

EMMA: “How dare you.”

SCOTT: “How dare YOU imply I should think like you as if we’re in any way the same. You’re right about everything I’ve been through. And you’ve seen even more firsthand. You were a rich Boston girl born with a silver spoon in her mouth, the most privileged life imaginable, and you joined Hellfire less than a year after finishing college. All of your struggles have been of your own making. Unless you want to tell me I’m wrong.”

Emma finally shuts up, facing forward with an icy stare.

SCOTT: “That’s what I thought.”

Laura stands in her room, dressed in a black button-down shirt and black pants, nervously looking in a mirror. James tells her to breathe. She has nothing to worry about.

That doesn’t help Laura though. She turns around and asks what if Sofia says no.

JAMES: “Allow me to rephrase: You’re Wolverine. You’re not allowed to be afraid anymore.”

While Laura remains anxious, James tells her he’s seen the two getting closer through their sessions with him and Scott, Laura’s saved and/or tried to avenge Sofia on multiple occasions, and he heard she already said no to Julian. With how all-over each other those two are, what other reason could there be besides her heart belonging elsewhere?

Laura finally stands tall and confident. On her way out, James tells her not to forget the rose he got for her to give.

JAMES: “It’s classic. Trust me. Sure I can’t convince you to comb your hair?”

Laura just blows a strand of it out of her face before walking off.

Laura knocks on Sofia and Noriko’s door. Sofia answers, dressed in a slinky black ballgown and elbow legnth gloves. Laura is in awe. Sofia tells Laura that she looks simple, but still extremely handsome, to which Laura blurts out a proposal about the two of them maybe going to the dance together, sticking the rose in Sofia’s face.

LAURA: “Oh, um, you look beautiful.”

Sofia is taken completely off guard.

SOFIA: “Laura…this is very sweet, but I’m not…”

Sofia trails off as she looks into Laura’s big green eyes and rapidly flashes back to her in Mojo’s prison with Julian, her being shot, her nearly killing Shaw, and the end of her nightmare.

Sofia smiles.

SOFIA: “I’d love to go with you, Laura.”

Sofia takes the rose. The two just stand there awkwardly.

LAURA: “Um…what do we do now?”

SOFIA: “You could tell me what time you’ll drop by to escort me to the gym.”

LAURA: “Right. Good idea.”

While she’s being stoic and awkward, Laura’s hands are flapping.

We cut to the inside of the sentinel factory, the interior guarded by Purfiers. Emma telepathically informs Scott of how many there are and where they’re positioned.

Cyclops proceeds to blast down the factory’s entrance, running in and taking down every single guard through a combination of quick, efficient, and well-times optic blasts, and martial arts.

Emma gives Scott a slow clap as she casually struts in and teases him by saying how sexy that was, stomping down on a barely concious Purifier’s head with her high-heel to knock him out. Before Scott can refute this, Stryker makes his presence known, stepping down a staircase toward the two, acknowledging that the strength given to them by Satan is indeed impressive. And that is what makes them as frightening as they are, beyond merely those who consort with him.

Scott readies himself to attack as he tells Stryker the only ones they’re a threat to are those who’d try to kill them. Stryker sighs and pulls his hand out of his pocket, revealing he’s holding a dead man’s switch. If he lets go of the button he’s holding down, bombs inside the Sentinels will go off, kill them all, and wipe out everything else in a 15-mile radius. Scott questions what he wants.

STRYKER: “I did not have the chance to truly engage with Mrs. Summers. The lord spoke with her, personally. A greater honor than she deserved. Still, I wish to speak to you, Cyclops. Man to man. Before the end times for Mutantkind arrive, I want to make you see that I am not a monster, but a righteous servant. I want you to admit that I am doing what is best for you all.”

Scott scowls at him, not having any other option for the moment but to listen.

In the cafeteria, Noriko, Cessily, and Sooraya are eating together. Nori and Cess are commiserating over the fact that no one's asked either of them out. Nori tells Soo she's lucky: she might not have a date because she'll only date other Muslims, while they KNOW they don't have dates because they're losers. Sooraya rolls her eyes at this, while Surge and Mercury curse their gauntlets and mercury form, respectively.

MERCURY: "Have you had dates before?"

SURGE: "A couple. You're Ms. Cheerleader though, so I'm guessing you've got a lot more experience with, well…"

Noriko sticks her thumb in her mouth and pushes it in and out rapidly, laughing after a couple seconds.

SOORAYA: "What is wrong with you?"

Nori kicks her feet up on the table.

NORIKO: "Absolutely nothing."

"Hey, Cessily!"

The girls' attention is drawn to Roxy as she jogs over to their table. Cessily instantly shrinks as she approaches, becoming slightly more liquid than usual.

CESSILY: "Roxy. Hi. You…know who I am?"

ROXY: "Girl, you're part of the squad that has half its members constantly getting into trouble with the X-Men. Everyone knows who you are. Some of us also think you're cursed."

Roxy goes on to say that's not why she's here. She's been watching Cessily, not in a creepy way, she thinks she's really cool, and she wants to take her to the dance.

Cessily is excitedly and wiggly over the fact that Roxy Freaking Washington wants to go out with her and instantly says yes.

CESSILY: "Bye, Surge!"

Cess leaps up, hooks her arm around Roxy's, and walks off with her.

Noriko sighs.

NORIKO: "Well Soo, just you and me."

Dust proceeds to fly off without another word.

SURGE "You guys suck."

Noriko falls out of her chair.

Cyclops walks deeper into the factor with Stryker, who desired privacy away from Emma. He tells him that he wasn’t always a reverend. He has raised to be a man of God, but after an unpleasant childhood, he lost his faith. He became a soldier, serving his country instead of his lord. A childish mistake, but he doesn’t regret the “good” he did.

STRYKER: “And when I was finished serving overseas…I fell in love.”

We flashback to the events Stryker describes, as he tells Scott how he met his beloved Marcy after moving into the apartment across the hall from her, and they instantly fell in love. She was a good, Christian woman, she was brilliant, and she could make him smile. They were inseparable and, for the first time in his life, he was truly happy.

It wasn’t long before they were married and had their first child, Jason. Marcy had helped him regain his faith, and he’d found a new purpose in working at his local church. Things should have been perfect.

STRYKER: “But then…they fell victim to the same curse you have.”

Back at the school, the dance has begun! Laura is extremely stiff and uncomfortable as she walks Sofia, who’s hanging off her arm, into the gym. Sofia tells her to relax and that tonight is just about having fun.

LAURA: “Right. Yes. Fun. I can have that now.”

Bling!, dressed in a full tuxedo, is cool as a cucumber as she twirls Cessily around on the dance floor, the infatuated Mercury being metaphorical and somewhat literal putty in her hands.

Brian is sulking in a corner drinking punch. A poorly dressed kid with glasses and short brown hair walks up to him and asks if he’s got room for one more in the loser corner. Brian shrugs.

Julian looks like he’s having the time of his life as he dances with a recurring background girl.

Noriko is working the punch table with Dani, venting about how she expects it from humans, but how could everyone here be so shallow as to not ask her out just because of her gauntlets? What other reason could there POSSIBLY be for her to not get asked out?!

DANI, smiling knowingly: “No idea, Surge. No idea.”

Dust, who isn’t dressed up at all, is welcoming Kitty, Storm, and Jean home. Storm picks up on how uncomfortable Sooraya already is here, and offers to take her outside, while Kitty heads out onto the dance floor to show these kids what real dancing looks like, and Jean contacts Scott telepathically to ask him how the mission is going. Being stuck alone with Emma can’t be fun.

In the factory, Scott responds to her that Emma would be preferable to who he’s stuck with right now.

Stryker continues to spin Scott his story. He was just living his ideal, suburban life, happily removed from the violence of his past, when something horrible happened: his son’s hands turned purple. They immediately took him to the doctor, only for their tests to reveal that he had a “so-called X-gene”. The doctor prattled on upon the fake science he knew, but Stryker as a clergyman knew better; he knew that “Mutants” were just humans who’d been touched by the devil and tainted with his evil.

STRYKER: “I wasn’t sure what to do, Cyclops. I was terrified. Not for myself, but for my poor boy, and the danger his existence now put my beloved wife in. I prayed for him, oh, how I prayed for him, but that didn’t let me sleep better each night. On the rare occasion I actually could fall asleep, my dreams were haunted by the terrors of what my son, my Jason, could one day do.”

Stryker clenches his fists and tears up.

STRYKER: “And then, a couple weeks later, my wife sneezed. And bubbles came out. Bubbles, Cyclops! Human beings do not sneeze bubbles!” He slams his fist down on a safety railing. “Before then, she’d agreed with all my words. She’d agreed with my concern for our son. But now that she was one of them, one of you, she told me that I was wrong, and that she felt completely normal; she said that nothing was wrong with her or Jason. That…that was when I knew my wife was gone. That was when I knew how being a Mutant twisted the mind.”

Stryker grins manically as tears stream down his face.

STRYKER: “Don’t you see, Cyclops? I had no choice!”

CYCLOPS: “No choice to do what?”

STRYKER: “To save them! To grant them salvation, and keep them from spreading sin everywhere they went! Marcy was a holy woman! It’s what she would have wanted!”

This is enough to even mildly surprise Scott.

CYCLOPS: “You killed them.”

We flashback quickly to the murders.

STRYKER: “Yes. And if their souls managed to reach Heaven, I know that they are grateful. I know that they are looking down on me, rooting for me to do the same to all of you. And I know that, soon, all of you will be grateful to me as well.”

Scott scowls at Stryker as the reverend nods.

At the dance, Kitty and Kurt are engaged in an intense dance battle, the two taunting each other as Kitty phases through Kurt and Kurt teleports onto her shoulders. They’re arguing over who’s the best dancer here, but all the kids watching them find them both to be extremely cringe.

PIXIE: “So not tidy.”

Sofia and Laura are dancing together, and it’s by far the happiest and most at ease Laura we’ve ever seen. Sofia smiles at her and tells her she likes this side of her.

LAURA: “Being here…being with you…I’m not miserable all the time.”

Sofia giggles, apologizing again for that past interaction. She really is glad she said yes to coming with her tonight; she’s having a lot of fun.

SOFIA: “Would you mind getting me some punch?”

Laura eagerly gets right to it, but, thanks to her hearing, she picks up on Sofia sighing. Turning her head around, she catches Sofia witsfully watching Julian and his date.

NORI: “You alright, Laura?”

Laura crushes the cup of punch she’d just gotten in her hand. It doesn’t take long for Noriko to notice why.

NORIKO: “Oh, that son of a…”

Noriko super speeds off, causing the punchbowl to spill all over Danielle.

All Laura says is “Sorry” in a gravely tone before walking off, Dani cursing under her breath.

In the corner, Brian and the other kid are on their phones. Cessily, in a panic, comes running up to them, asking if they’ve seen Roxy. She said she was going to the bathroom 20 minutes ago and hasn’t come back.

BRIAN: “Uh, have you tried looking in the bathroom, Cess?”

CESSILY: “Obviously! Oh god, you don’t think she’d ditch me, do you?”

NERDY KID: “Of course she would. It’s what “cool girls” like her are best at.”

Cessily runs off in a panic.

Brian tells him that wasn’t cool, but the kid just tells him it’s the way it is. The primitive social ladders which define high school, which define life, haven’t changed in over a hundred years.

Brian tells him this school isn’t like that, but the nerdy kid then questions why Julian didn’t agree to go out with him.

BRIAN: “How do you–”

“You’re the freak squad. People talk.”

BRIAN, even more depressed: “Maybe he’s just straight.”

“Or maybe he sees you as a convenient friend and follower, even if he doesn’t acknowledge you as the same species.”

The nerdy kid pulls up something on his phone.

“You should check out my blog. It’s all about this. Quentinquire.org.”

Scott asks Stryker what exactly it is he wants here. The leader of the X-Men’s approval to genocide his race? Stryker shakes his head. No, no, no. That’s not it. He knows he’ll never “approve”. He just wants him to understand. He wants him to see that, at the end of the day, he’s helping them. He knows he is.

We flashback one final time to right after the Stryker killed his family. Traumatized and on the floor, Stryker’s hands shook, but that didn’t stop him from putting his gun to head, intent on shooting himself. But then, God spoke to him. He thanked him for his selfless deed. He had proven himself worthy of leading his crusade on Earth.

In the present, as sweat drips down Stryker’s face, Scott smirks.

SCOTT: “No. That’s not what you want. You’ve already tried to hurt and kill countless Mutants. You don’t care what I think about that.” Scott steps toward Stryker, reverend holding up the dead man’s switch as he cringes and backs away. “You murdered your wife and child based on your faith. And you’re only alive now because you heard God’s voice. But my wife kicked your god’s ass. And now you’re wondering if you’ve been played.”

STRYKER: “No! No, you’re wrong! I know the God I serve!”

SCOTT: “No. You don’t. That’s why you want to hear me approve of your crimes. Because if I don’t? Then you may just be a crazy man who killed his family and got played by a telepath.”

STRYKER: “Quiet!!!”

SCOTT: “Or what? You’ll kill us both? Not doing anything to change my mind.”

Stryker shouts at Scott again, holding up the dead man’s switch. Scott tells him it’s time to end this, but not by blowing himself up. He can’t speak for any god, but he’s sure if they could ask Marcy and Jason what they’d want him to do, they’d say to turn himself in.

Scott slowly moves closer to Stryker, hoping to disarm him…but Stryker’s grin returns as he catches Scott off guard, dropping the dead man’s switch and striking him across the face with the hand which had been holding it.

Scott panics as Stryker cackles. Scott sighs that it wasn’t real, but Stryker corrects him: it wasn’t set to blow up any bombs in the Sentinels; it was set to activate the Sentinels.

The factory starts rumbling, Scott and Stryker grabbing the railing to keep their balance, and the booming sounds of the sentinels turning on echo through the whole building.

EMMA, telepathically: “Mr. Summers, we have a little problem.”

SCOTT, telepathically: “I know. I’m on my way.”

Scott turns around to run off to help Emma, but, out of the corner of his eye, he notices Stryker pulling out a gun, reacting just in time to blast it out of his hands. Even still Stryker makes it clear that if Cyclops won’t give him what he wants, then he will kill him personally, while his sentinels kill his white witch.

At the school, Dazzler finishes a song. As everyone applauds, Jean gets up on stage, hyping her up, and telling everyone the night isn’t over yet, but it is almost time to announce the dance’s king and queen. First though, she wants to make a quick speech. Jean’s speech primarily takes place in the background as we cut to other events, but we do hear enough clearly to get that the general idea of the speech is about how everyone here may come from different walks of life, but they’re united in the thing that makes them special and, in spite of their differences, she’s gotten to see them all come together as friends and classmates this semester.

JEAN: “As long as we all stick together, we have nothing to fear.”

While this speech is going on, Sofia finds Laura, having been worried where she went. Laura tells her not to act like she cares. She knows who Sofia really wishes she were here with.

Sofia hangs her head.

SOFIA: “I’m sorry.”

Elsewhere in the gym, Noriko shoves Julian, asking his date, Preview , to give them some privacy. Julian asks what Ashida’s problem is, with her getting in his face and shouting at him that he’s such an idiot. He’s been chasing after Sofia all semester, and now he’s just giving up?

Julian shoves her away. Sofia said no, and, yeah, he hates that, but he’s not gonna dwell on it. It is what it is. She wanted to go with Laura, not him, and he’s happy for her. Besides, what does Noriko care? Shouldn’t she be happy they aren’t getting together?

Noriko swears in Japanese before slamming her hands on the sides of Julian’s head.

NORIKO: “Julian Keller, read my lips: Sofia doesn’t like girls!”

JULIAN: “Wh…what?”

NORIKO: “She wanted to go with you, you dumbass. She’s only here with Laura because she’s afraid you may bring out the worst in her, and because she’s too sweet to say “No” to Laura’s puppy eyes.”

JULIAN: “They are pretty big.”

Noriko slaps him, and points over at Sofia and Laura.

NORIKO: “Do they look like they’re having a good time? Are you having a good time? No. So now that you know what her problem is, fix it!”

Julian knocks Nori back with his TK, growling at her to stay out of this, before hanging his head and sighing. He’s just not sure what he’s supposed to do.

“Whatever you have to.”

Brian walks up to the two.

BRIAN: “That’s what Ms. Frost is always telling us about getting what we want, right?”

JULIAN: “Brian…”

BRIAN: “Hey, don’t worry about earlier. It’s chill. People like you and Sofia? You deserve each other. So go get her.”

Julian continues to hang his head, before finally picking it up and donning his cocky shithead smirk.

JULIAN: “Okay. I have an idea. Where’s Cess? She’s not gonna want to miss this.”

We cut to Cessily, alone, crying in her room.

In the factory, Scott and Emma struggle against Stryker and the sentinels, respectively, as Stryker proves to be more than a match for Cyclops in hand-to-hand combat, while Emma, despite her multiple, incredible powers, is overwhelmed by the murder machines thanks to their great number and refusal to stay down.

STRYKER: “Do you think I want to be doing this?! I was happy! I was at peace! But then your ilk came into my life, and when God called upon me, I had no choice but to answer!”

Eventually, Stryker manages to remove Scott’s visor, and without his optic blasts, the fight completely turns in Stryker’s favor. He gets Cyclops pinned on the floor, and just starts whaling on him, bloodying his fists with each strike across Scott’s face. He tried to make him see reason! He tried to respect him as the leader of his people and offer him peace in death! But just like Marcy, he’s too far gone for that.

Unable to open his eyes without killing Stryker, and unable to get the reverand off of him, Scott is seemingly helpless. He’s too weak.

STRYKER: “Come on, Cyclops! Stop holding back! Show me the demon inside you! Confess your sins before the Representative of God!”

Scott only clenches his eyes shut further. No matter what, he cannot open them.

EMMA, telepathically: “My father was a monster and my mother was a drunk.”

SCOTT, telepathically: “Huh?”

EMMA: “You wanted to know what hardships I’ve faced since I was 16. My horrid parents plagued me until I was 17 and broke away from them. Likewise my older sister, who was born without a heart, my younger sister, who’s never been anything but trouble, and my high school tormentors, all of whom sought to make sure each and every day of my life was a living Hell. The only bright spots in my life before I left that house were my brother, and the knowledge which came only after my X-gene developed fully that it was why, if nothing else, I’d been able to live as my true self. Winston Frost hated Mutants, but there were people he hated more.”

As this conversation goes on, Scott continues to get beaten, and Emma continues her hopeless battle against the sentinels, doing everything she can to survive and keep them at bay. Interspersed with this, we flashback to what Emma is describing.

EMMA: “I was offered inheritance of the entire family fortune after finishing high school, but I refused to be tied to that man any longer. It was freeing, but the end result was four years of scrubbing toilets and taking any other menial, backbreaking jobs I could get to pay my way through college. And even after graduation, with my family having disowned me, I was nothing but another girl with a business degree and no connections. So I had to get creative…”

The flashback we see is one of a 21 year-old Emma stripping beautifully before an audiance.

EMMA: “I’d tried my hand at stripping before and I’d failed miserably. But with how I’d trained my telepathy, tricking drooling men into believing I was the most incredible performer they’d ever seen was hardly a challenge. Of course, one man was able to see through my illusion.

Backstage, Emma is smashed face first into a mirror.

We cut back to the present.

EMMA: “But that’s a story for another time.”

Scott questions why she’s telling him all of this. She answers that she was simply doing what he requested in exchange for answering her question.

Now, where does he see himself in ten years? Is he going to die here? Can he see himself leading Mutantkind to a brighter tomorrow? And is he willing to do whatever it takes to make that a reality?

EMMA: “I’m already doing everything I can. Our fates, all our fates, are in your hands now, Mr. Summers. What are you going to–?”

Emma is cut off, finally being shot down and neutralized.

Panic and rage takeover Scott’s bloody mess of a face. Stryker cackles.

STRYKER: “This is pathetic! You are a monster! Quit acting so self-righteous and act like one! Show me your true eyes, show me the eyes of the beast, and let me face their evil head on before I finish this, and move on to exterminating your entire damned–”

Stryker is cut off as the sound cuts off, a tear drips down Scott’s cheek, Stryker’s malicious smirk shifts toward peaceful relief, and while we can’t hear him, Scott screams, and red consumes the screen.

Emma is about to be finished off as the sound of Cyclops’ full power echoes through the factory, before the man himself arrives on the scene, a wave of red energy eviserating every last sentinel.

Emma is in absolute awe as she watches this display of power. And for another reason.

When all that’s left of the walking death camps is scrap metal, Scott closes his eyes, takes deep breaths, and puts his visor back on.

He hops down to the lower level to offer Emma a hand.

EMMA: “Thank you…Mr. Summers. That was something I wasn’t aware you had inside you. Where is Stryker?”

Scott hangs his head and clenches his fists.

Emma smirks.

EMMA: “Please, darling, don’t tell me you feel bad about this. If there was any man who deserved this fate, it was him.”

CYCLOPS: “That’s the thing.”

Scott looks up and scowls at Emma.

CYCLOPS: “I feel great.”

Emma’s smirk becomes a more gentle smile as she places a hand on the side of his face.

CYCLOPS: “We should get home.”

EMMA: “We should. My hero needs his reward after all.”

Scott brushes her off and stomps away.

Back in her room, Cessily is still crying. She’s still alone, until someone knocks on her door. She goes to answer, and on the other side is Bling!. Cessily questions if laughing at her with her friends wasn’t enough and now she wants to laugh at her face to face…before Roxy steps aside so she doesn’t vomit all over Cessily.

Cessily asks if she’s okay, and Roxy nervously laughs. Turns out she got food poisoning earlier, and when she realized she wasn’t gonna be alright for a while, she ran off on her own so Cessily didn’t find out.

ROXY: “I…didn’t want you to think I wasn’t cool.”

But, Cessily had been texting Dust, Roxy ran into her, and, when she found out Cessily was crying, she knew she had to apologize. She’s so sorry she left. This was stupid.

Cessily laughs. Yes. It was. And a massive bitch move. But the dumbest part is thinking she wouldn’t think she’s cool just because she ate a bad egg or something. She’s Roxy freaking Washington! Did she not notice how she was all over her all night?

CESSILY: “I just was so worried, even before you ditched me, that you wouldn’t like me. No one’s like me that way since, you know…”

Roxy smirks, taking Cessily’s hands.

ROXY: “Since you became a girl of metal? Cessily Kincaid, I’ve been looking for another one of those since I was nine years-old.”

CESSILY: “R…really?”

ROXY: “Really. And if you’ll let me take you back to the gym for the last couple dances, I’d love to show you how sorry I am, and how much I’ve been waiting for you.”

Cessily’s face squirms with uncertainty, before she ultimately squees, running off with Roxy.

CESSILY: “Never ditch me again!”

ROXY: “Count on it.”

As Jean finishes her speech and is about to announce the king and queen of the dance, Julian flies onto the stage and takes the mic.

JULIAN: “Everyone listen up!”

JEAN, telepathically: “Mr. Keller, what do you think you’re doing?”

JULIAN, telepathically: “Come on, you’re about to crown me king, aren’t you? Call it starting my speech early.”

Jean sighs and shakes her head.

JEAN, telepathically: “Proceed.”

While Noriko and Brian are looking at him hoping he pulls this off, Sofia and Laura are concerned and confused.

Julian tells everyone that knows they’ve been watching him and his squad these past few months. And why wouldn’t they? They’re obviously the best Mutants here! Their kickass TA is already an X-Man, and there’s no one scarier - in a good way.

Laura snort laughs.

Sooraya doesn’t even like fighting, but she could take anyone here! Cessily has more spirit than anyone he’s ever met!

Cessily and Roxy walk in as he’s saying this.

ROXY: “Uh, what’s going on here?”

CESSILY, smiling: “Julian being Julian.”

And Brian? Brian is the best friend a guy could ever ask for.

Brian smiles with acceptance, as Julian then says that Noriko may be a loser, but they care about her anyway, prompting Nori to flip him off.

JULIAN: “And Sofia? Well, we ALL love her, right? Let’s hear it!”

Sofia is bashful as the whole gym cheers her on.

JULIAN: “That’s right! You know all who the best of the best are! That’s why you’re about to put crowns on our heads! And that’s why, before we graduate, the two of us are going to be X-Men!”

The whole gym continues to cheer as Sofia starts to both soak it in, and realize what Julian is doing.

Julian says he knows Sofia has doubts about herself, about him, but the only future he sees for them is kicking ass together and saving the day as the best heroes this world’s ever seen. He knows he’s a jerk, but she knows he’s more than that. And he’s seen her at worst, and can still only see her as perfection.

JULIAN: “Come on, Beautiful. Give it a chance. Please.”

Everyone is cheering on Sofia to get up there, and the look on Sofia’s face makes it clear Julian’s words have reached her. Even still…

LAURA: “Go.” Sofia turns to her with remorse. “I’ve been hurt worse before.”

As Laura hangs her head, Sofia gives her a big hug.

SOFIA: “I am sorry I cannot feel how you want me to feel, but I do care about you Laura. A lot.” Sofia pulls back. “I’m taking you shopping over break. You need less black in your closet.”

LAURA: “That…sounds awful. But okay.”

With Laura at peace, Sofia flies toward the stage. Julian is holding his arms out open for her, but she slaps him.

SOFIA, smirking: “No more big, public displays of affection like this. They’re already tiring.”

JULIAN laughs. “Deal.”

The two take hold of each other and share their first kiss, the cheers reaching their peak, as Jean seizes the moment to properly announce them as the dance’s king and queen.

Inspired by the moment, Mercury kisses Bling! Both girls are sufficiently awkward about it and giggle.

As the dancing resumes, Julian and Sofia finally get to dance, and Mercury and Bling! pick up where they left off.

Laura is left all alone, watching Julian and Sofia, but…

BRIAN: “Who needs the hets, right?”

Brian, smirking, offers a hand to Laura.

Laura shrugs with a smirk of her own.

Brian and Laura take the dance floor together.

Noriko sighs, happy she was at least able to help her friend, but she’s still got no one.

Then, a short, porcupine looking kid named Quill walks up to her and asks if she’d want to dance.

Nori takes the kid’s hand and makes clear she’s leading.

We pan away from the dance with everyone at peace.

In the middle of the night, Scott and Emma arrive back at the institute, having missed the dance, with everyone having gone to sleep. Scott told Jean they were on their way home, and the mission was completed, but he didn’t give the important details.

Emma asks if he’ll be taking credit for his noble deed tonight, or if he’d like her to “take the blame”, so “pure, holy Jean” doesn’t get mad at him.

Scott says there was nothing “noble” about what he did. He’s going to make clear to Jean that he knows that, and hope she forgives him given the circumstances. The fact that it made him feel so good, making sure that monster would never hurt anyone again, is wrong.

EMMA: “Feelings are never “wrong”, Mr. Summers. They’re who we are. Good or bad, you can embrace those feelings, or you can repress them because an old man who groomed you to be his weapon told you how to feel.”

SCOTT: “I’ve told you not to insult Xavier.”

EMMA: “And I’ve told you I can see right through you. I’ve told you I know there’s someone so much more real underneath that stiff facade of yours. Tonight, I got a glimpse of that man. And I’ll be damned if I don’t get to thank him.”

SCOTT: “Emma, you–”

Emma cuts Scott off, grabbing the sides of his head and kissing him. Just like when Mystique kissed him disguised as Emma, he kisses back for a moment before pushing her away. Only this time, he’s not falling over, he has Emma excitedly grinning at him and tossing off her cape…and he knows what he needs.

Scott pulls Emma into his arms and passionately makes out with her.

We cut to the next morning. Scott and Emma are in Emma’s bed, passed out, naked and tied up in silk sheets.

Out in the hall, Jean is looking for Scott. She can sense him somewhere around here.

JEAN: “Are you making me breakfast again you big sweetie?”

Jean knocks on Emma’s door, asking what happened last night and if she knows why Scott didn’t come to bed after getting home.

As she asks, Scott and Emma wake up, the former in horror at what he’s done, and Emma moaning and squirming around in pleasure.

JEAN: “...Scott?”

Jean forces Emma’s door open and sees the two in bed together.

EMMA: “Oh! Hello Jean, darling. Care to join us?”

SCOTT: “Jean…I…let me explain. I…”

As Scott struggles to find the right words, Jean sheds a tear. And as the tear goes down her cheek, it becomes a flame.

Jean screams at the top of her lungs as the full Phoenix aura emerges around her, and she psychically shuts down Scott and Emma’s brains, rendering them both catatonic.

Outside the school, a small group of the remaining Purifers burst onto the front lawn, determined to avenge their fallen leader.

As they charge forward, the door is opened by Jean.

PURIFER: “Die, demon!”

Every Purifer present tries to shoot her down with their machine guns, but Jean stops every single bullet, dropping them to the ground.

Jean tilts her head to the left. In an instant, all of the present Purifers explode, leaving only blood and gore behind. Jean flies off as she screeches like the Phoenix.

#new x-men: the animated series #new x-men #academy x #scott summers #jean grey #Emma Frost #Ororo Munroe #Kitty Pryde #Roberto Da Costa #Laura Kinney #Sofia Mantega #Julian Keller #Noriko Ashida #Sooraya Qadir #Cessily Kincaid #Brian Cruz

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