Two police officers are driving down the road, when
suddenly Forge slams into the hood of their car! They get out and question him
only to find he’s being chased by a whole squad of Genoshan magistrates! One of
the cops reaches for his gun, causing the magistrates to open fire, killing him
while Forge knocks the other cop out of the way. Forge grabs the other cop and
runs, as the magistrates shoot an explosive round, blowing up the police car
and knocking the two of them for a loop! The magistrates bear down on them, and
the officer finds her bullets ineffective against their body armor. Thankfully,
Forge has a stronger gun and shoots the magistrate, causing him to be engulfed
in the fire, igniting his ammo and causing yet another explosion that knocks
Forge and the cop into the sewers. Forge drags the cop out of the water and
waits with his gun drawn until he’s sure they aren’t being followed. The cop
introduces herself as Jones and Forge explains that the magistrates are after
some friends of his, regardless of the law. Forge gets himself and Jones
outfitted in protective X-Men uniforms, to Jones’s embarrassment. Jones then
notices the water level rising, and they decide that they can’t stay there.
Meanwhile, in Washington DC, Val Cooper is surprised
at her workout club with another impromptu meeting with Alexei Vazhin. Vazhin
tells her about another power player in the bid for mutant affairs, known only
as the Shadow King. Though not much is known about him, the Shadow King has
made himself indispensable to practically every great power on the planet,
working for all sides against the middle. Vazhin reveals he’s traced the Shadow
King’s operations to America and came to her as the government’s foremost
official on mutant and superpowered activities, warning her that factions may
come to her in order to handle the country’s super-powered beings. Back in
Manhattan, Jean Grey watches over the city from X-Factor’s enormous ship, when
she’s broken from her thoughts by Beast. She thinks about all of the different
X-teams and wonders if perhaps hiding away in their huge tower cuts them off
too much from the very people they’re trying to reach, making it even harder to
be accepted. Beast theorizes that that may just be part of the gig, citing the
Avengers and the Fantastic Four with their own isolated headquarters, the price
for being who and what they are.
Back in the sewers, Forge and Jones surprise the group
of magistrates that have come looking for them, and Jones and a magistrate end
up shooting each other at the same time! The X-Men uniform protects Jones, to
her astonishment, as Forge takes out the rest of the magistrates. Forge leaves
the magistrates tied up, as he and Jones reach street level again. Nearby,
outside X-Factor’s ship, the rest of the Genoshan forces prepare to make their
move. Just as Jean answers the phone inside, outside Wipeout uses his powers to
temporarily shut down all of ship’s systems, plunging the whole building into
darkness and allowing Pipeline to transmit the rest of their forces inside via
the phone line! They state that they’re there for Jenny and Phillip and attack
the X-Men when they refuse to hand them over. Jean telekinetically lifts the
magistrates’ guns out of their hands, but she quickly gets dropped with a
tranquilizer dart. Banshee tries to fight back as well but the magistrates came
with earphone dampers to block out his scream, and knock him out as well. They
just as quickly tranq Callisto and Colossus after they attempt to fight back,
holding Jenny and Phillip captive with the rest.
Outside, Forge and Jones reach the building and
witness what’s going on, pausing to decide how to proceed. Inside, the
magistrates have everyone incapacitated and are about to make their escape when
they realize Beast is missing! A couple of magistrates are sent to find him,
and he takes them out in the dark before dropping down on the Genoshans and
freeing Jean. Outside, Forge stuns the magistrates keeping watch with a flash
grenade, allowing Jones to take out Wipeout. With his control over the ship ended,
the ship is able to incapacitate the magistrates inside, while the heroes
decide what to do with them. They decide to turn the magistrates over to the
authorities, however, a federal car pulls up and gives the order to release the
magistrates into the hands of the government to be sent home, to everyone
else’s shock and frustration! Later, Jones tells them that the official story
is that the magistrates were never here, arming the X-Men with the knowledge
that Genosha has been given free reign to operate on U.S. soil. Jenny and
Phillip decide to head out, being the source of all the trouble, and Colossus
and Callisto decide to leave as well, to live more normal lives. Banshee tells
Jean he and Forge decided to stay with them for awhile, and Jean wonders what
they’re going to do about Colossus, still without his memories. Banshee wonders
if it’s not so bad leaving him be, deciding that if they need him, they know
where to find him, but for now, he’s earned his happy ending!
For the special marvelite in you