The X-men live in a world that hates and fears them. Nonetheless, they strive to protect that very world, even if it means making sacrifices. Jean Grey has just recently made the ultimate sacrifice when she stayed behind during a space rescue mission in order to save her friends.

However, what surprises the X-men, and even more so Scott Summers, that Jean has a clean bill of health and is ten times stronger. And this is just in perfect timing as Warren Worthington III gets an unexpected call from an old friend, Emma Frost.

Emma informs Warren that she's now a member of the exclusive Hellfire Club in Upstate New York, and that Sebastian Shaw wishes to speak to Warren so he can be offered a membership. Now, as the X-men prepare to head off to the most lavish party they've ever attended, Warren prepares to reunite with one of his oldest, most influential friends.

Issue 76: The Phoenix Saga Part 3

Hellfire Manor – Five Days Ago

Life for members of the exclusive Hellfire Club in Westchester, New York was a life of the rich and famous. Only the wealthiest, most influential people could become members, and children of families who were members got the membership passed down. But for Madelyne Jennifer Pryor, the nineteen-year-old girl had been adopted into the lifestyle.

Eight years ago, Madelyne's life got turned around. At the age of twelve, she'd been a mental hospital patient at the Lee-Yost Pediatric Mental Institution of Kearney, New Jersey. For years, she thought she'd been going insane due to seeing illusions of monsters and demons, making things move and reading others' minds. Additionally, going through it was harder, because she'd been separated from her identical twin sister, Jean Grey.

She could remember the day she and Jean had been separated from one another from Mangold Mental Hospital. Both girls had been sharing the same room, clinging to each other and crying because they were all each other had. When it had been announced they would be going to separate mental hospitals, both girls had screamed and cried out for each other. Madelyne could remember the look on her sister's face as Jean was dragged out of their room. It still gave her nightmares to this very day.

However, when she'd turned twelve, it seemed as though God had given her a second chance. She had been approached by her adoptive mother and father, David and Olivia Pryor. They were a wealthy couple, highly successful in medicine, each having PhDs in psychology and biochemistry. But what made Madelyne's adoptive parents so unique was the fact that they were both telepathic mutants like her.

After adopting Madelyne, David and Olivia began tutoring the teenager on her psychic abilities. Upon beginning her training, Madelyne learned more about her powers and the things she could do. She learned not only she could read others' minds and telekinetically move objects, but she could also virtually heal any illness or injury, and summon demons and goblins. The couple taught Madelyne how to better her powers. Before Madelyne knew it, after her sixteenth birthday, she was officially sworn in as a member of the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle.

Among these members included her older sister-figure Emma Frost, a runaway telepath from Boston who had been living with the Morlocks. Emma, however, had left two years ago in effort to start a private school for mutants in Boston. Why she left, Madelyne didn't know. Others included Shinobi Shaw, son of the Inner Circle's Black King, Sebastian Shaw, and Regan Wyngarde, the daughter of Black Rook Jason Wyngarde. Regan was the closest person Madelyne had to a best friend. However, Shinobi was looking to hopefully date Madelyne. But Madelyne knew he was just looking to marry the Inner Circle's future Red Queen, because he wanted to uphold a standard of royalty. Madelyne, on the other hand, couldn't stomach Sebastian's son for more than five minutes. She never liked him when they were children. Nothing was going to change that, now.

As Madelyne stood on the balcony in her bedroom overlooking the stunning view of upstate New York, she closed her eyes as she breathed in the clean air. She knew now that she was nineteen, it would be only two more years until she officially took up her mother's mantle of being the Red Queen of the Hellfire Club. This meant she would have to continue with putting up with Shinobi's relentless flirting.

'I can't,' she thought as she looked out over her balcony at the blood-red sunset. 'Shinobi's a pig. I was never able to stomach him back when we were twelve. What makes him think he flirting with me is going to somehow change that? He's lucky I'm so polite, otherwise I'd telekinetically lobotomize his ass five hundred different ways.'

As she stood there in her Red Pawn Hellfire Club attire – a blood-red corset lingerie piece, a floor-length red skirt and stiletto boots with a matching cape – Madelyne turned her head to see Emma Frost coming into her room. Knowing Emma, the former White Queen had been spying on her.

"You know better than to intrude on my thoughts, Emma," she said, narrowing her green eyes at the woman who was her sister in every way but blood.

"Then you best better improve at keeping your thoughts to yourself, dear," Emma told her gently, going over to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Maddie, I know that you cannot tolerate Sebastian's son, but –"

"No, you don't, Emma," Madelyne said bitterly. "He better quit trying to get in my pants. The sooner he realizes he's not going to win me over, the better."

"Believe me. It's just as unsavory to me as it is to you, Maddie," Emma said, going by Madelyne's nickname. "Do you think I enjoy seeing you two together? You have about as much chemistry between one another as a tiger and an antelope."

Maddie had to laugh at Emma's comment. Emma never sugarcoated the truth, ever. She was blunt, cold-as-ice and hard as a diamond. Emma often said, "I am a diamond; therefore, I am my own best friend."

"Emma, the more time I spend around him, the worse it gets," Maddie laughed as she went over to sit on her queen-sized bed. "He's into me, I'm not by any means into him. But he won't take "no" for an answer. He keeps trying to woo his way into my bed. I'm Sansa while he is Ramsay. Let's face it. Shinobi just wants to date me so we can both be Inner Circle royalty; so that he can have his cake and eat it, too."

Emma cast Madelyne a gentle smile that was tinged with bitterness. "Believe me, darling. If I could disabuse him of that hope, I would."

"I know you would, Emma." Madelyne smiled at her friend. If anything, she was grateful to have a friend like Emma in her life.

Suddenly, that was when they could hear telepathic calls of, 'White Queen, Red Pawn, come down to the ritual chamber, immediately dears.'

"Selene," Maddie whispered as she followed Emma out of her bedroom and down to the dungeons of Hellfire Manor. "But Emma, what are you doing back here? I thought that you left to start that Academy of Tomorrow for the Gifted in Boston."

"I did. And it's very successful, dear, but Sebastian Shaw and Selene called me because they told me we have got important manners to attend to. Apparently, they cannot do it without me," Emma said.

"Figures," scoffed Maddie as they approached the ritual chamber in the dungeons of Hellfire Manor.

Upon arriving in the ritual chambers, they could see the other members of the Inner Circle, which included Black and White Pawns Shinobi Shaw and Regan Wyngarde, Shinobi and Regan's fathers, Maddie's adoptive parents, Black Queen Selene Gallio, White Bishop Donald Pierce, and Black Bishop Harry Leland. From Madelyne's understanding, she knew Sebastian Shaw could absorb various amounts of pure energy to increase his power, Harry Leland could increase the mass of various objects, Selene was telepathic and telekinetic, and Donald Pierce was half cyborg and was a technopath.

Madelyne and Emma could not help but wonder what the fuss was all about. Shinobi walked over and kissed her cheek. If Maddie could, she'd recoil in disgust. But she was under her and Shinobi's parents' watchful gazes. She knew better than to show disrespect to their families. Her parents would have a cow if she disrespected the son of the Inner Circle's Black King.

"You wished to see us, Black King?" asked Maddie, curtseying slightly to show her politeness.

"Indeed, Red Pawn," Sebastian said to her, kissing her hand. Once again, Maddie had to hold back from recoiling. Despite loving her adoptive mother and father, the Red Queen and King of the Hellfire Club dearly, it did not mean she was fond of Shaw or Selene in any capacity.

"Remember that request you'd asked of us all those years ago when we'd adopted you, dear?" asked Olivia Pryor with a gentle smile. "Well, we held onto that promise. We found your twin sister, Jean Grey."

Madelyne had to do a double take as she took in her adoptive mom's words. "W-Wait, what?" she asked in shock, feeling her knees growing weak. "Y-You found her?"

"Yes, we have. It's been a long time coming, dear child," Selene said quietly, smiling.

Madelyne couldn't believe her ears. It all seemed too good to be true for the nineteen-year-old girl.

'Is this really happening?' Maddie thought as the tears of joy sprung to her eyes. 'After years of being separated, I'm finally going to have my sister back?'

"Yes, Madelyne, we have," said her adoptive father, David. He gave her a hug, hoping to snap her out of the shock of it all.

"Where is she?" Maddie asked, still surprised.

"She's a member of a team of mutants called the X-men," explained Olivia gently, wiping her daughter's joyful tears away. "We have plans to reach out and invite them to a little party we will be having on Friday."

"Oh my God, thank you!" Madelyne hugged and kissed both her parents before running off up to her bedroom, hardly able to contain her pure excitement.

However, once Madelyne left the room, the tone shifted as Sebastian turned to look towards Emma, who wasn't dressed in her white Inner Circle lingerie, but rather an ice-blue pantsuit and cream-colored heels.

"I am assuming you didn't just have Maddie and I come down here to deliver us the joyful news?" asked Emma calmly. Knowing Shaw and Selene, there was always a catch.

"You're a smart woman, Emma," Sebastian said cunningly. Walking Emma over to a table, the woman could see shards of some magenta-colored crystal before her eyes, as well as images of a bird that could only come from Egyptian and Greek mythologies.

"Shaw, what is it that I am looking at right now?" Emma asked.

"The very next thing that is going to bring more power to the Inner Circle," Shaw said softly. "The Phoenix . . . the bird that is a symbol of life and incarnation. Every thousand years or so, the Phoenix is believed to take a host to live in, a host who is worthy of wielding its power. And it appears, from my observations I've been making lately, that the Phoenix has found its host in Madelyne's sister, Jean."

"Shaw, what are you planning?" Emma demanded, a glare on her beautiful features.

"From my understanding, Emma, one of your dear old friends, Warren Worthington III, son of two Hellfire Club members, is a member of the X-men. I would suggest you give him a call and invite him to our little event on Friday," Selene said quietly.

"And why would I do that?" Emma spat angrily.

"Because last time I checked, even though you left us two years ago, we still have leverage over you." Shaw pulled out a photograph which consisted of five, blonde, teenage girls who looked exactly like Emma, all dressed in Catholic school girl uniforms.

"You wouldn't!" the former White Queen snarled.

"I would," Shaw whispered cunningly. "Now, I would suggest you give your old friend a call. We'd want to make sure that our guests of honor are here for an affair as lavish as what we are planning."

Emma glared hard at Shaw as he gave her a phone number to call. But before retiring to her former bedroom in Hellfire Manor, she turned on her heel to look in Shaw's direction. "By the way, if the X-men are so public, how come Maddie doesn't know about them? What the hell did you do?"

"That is none of your concern," Olivia Pryor said calmly. "You have twenty-four hours to make your choice, Emma."

Warren's Room – Present Day

'I never thought I'd hear back from Emma Frost again after seven years,' thought Warren Worthington III as he straightened his tie and sprayed cologne on himself.

That evening, there was to be a party being hosted by the Hellfire Club. For Warren, he never thought he'd become an honorary member of the exclusive club his parents had been members of. But it shouldn't have surprised him too much. He being the son of Warren Worthington, Jr. and a member of X-Corporation's X-men, Warren knew he'd gained his rightful place in the organization.

However, what surprised Warren more was hearing from his old friend, Emma Frost. They had met when they had both been refugees with the Morlocks. After Warren left, he ran into Emma, and they lived with one another for about a month. Their many nights and days together as two runaway mutant teens had consisted of Emma using her telepathy to steal money and food for them, and living in run-down apartment complexes and office buildings. They'd had to rely on one another just to survive, and during that time, Warren considered Emma to be his best and only friend.

However, Warren should have figured Emma would eventually, at one point, become affiliated with the Hellfire Club. During their many moments together, Emma had talked to him about wanting to live a life of prosperity and living in a beautiful home and being really successful. She'd been especially ambitious when they would live out on the streets together. She always strove to make her powers stronger. Hearing her voice, even if it had just been over the phone five days ago, brought Warren joy and excitement. Emma was one of the many things he wanted to allow back into his life.

Just as he was applying hair gel to his hair, Scott walked into the room, buttoning his shirt.

"So, Warren, what am I to expect going into this?" Scott asked.

"Trust me, Slim; Emma's quite the character. If she's still anything like how she was when we were living on the streets together, then we're in for a wild time," Warren explained with a grin. "Though it shouldn't shock me. When Emma and I were living together at the age of sixteen, she always talked about wanting success and busting her ass, not just marrying money. She was always the ambitious type. It was one of the many things we both had in common."

"I can imagine," Scott said. "Besides I think this would be nice for me and for Jean to get to go out."

"I know," Warren said. "But compared to how Candy and I were when we were together, I'm sorry, but you and Jean suck so bad. You two never go out; you stay in all the time. You're great for each other, but not for me."

"C'mon, War, even you grew into valuing staying in with Candy," Scott pointed out with a smile.

"Of course," Warren said.

"So, explain to me what this is again?" Scott asked.

"Only the most affluent people can become members of the Hellfire Club. It shouldn't surprise me that I got invited, though. My parents were members of it, which meant they had to go out to cocktail parties at least once a month," Warren explained. "Now, it's my turn. But I do not know why you and the rest of the X-men were invited. I guess the president of the club considered all you worthy due to our extra-curricular activities we've been doing."

Scott shared a smile with his winged friend, and they proceeded to head out to the limo where Happy was waiting for them.

Jean's Room

"Storm, I honestly don't know what we're in for tonight," said Jean as she fluffed her hair and put some final touches on her makeup.

"While I am sure it's going to be a good time, are you sure you're up to going?" asked Ororo, nodding for Jean to zip up her black dress.

"Yeah. I'm okay, Storm. I can promise you that," Jean said.

"You know I'm worried about you, right? After that mission from earlier this week, you seem almost too normal. It was a miracle."

"I'm sensing you want to add more to that?" Jean asked, looking at her friend with a little bit of concern.

"When we brought you home, after we saved you, Nick Fury actually called us on the phone. He was going to be sending his condolences. You should have died, Jean. When I saw you, I was scared you were going to die," Ororo said softly, taking her best friend's hands into hers.

Jean breathed out a sigh. She knew that the space mission had left everyone worried about her. And she loved them all for worrying. Over the past year, the X-men had become her family. Warren and Ororo had grown to become surrogate siblings for her.

"Ro, I promise, I am alright," Jean whispered. "I'm here, and I'm okay. That's all that counts, right?"

"I know. But I don't know what I would do if you were no longer here. I don't know what I'd do without you," Ororo said, pulling Jean into her arms for a hug.

Jean melted into Ororo's embrace willingly, closing her eyes. "I know. And I love you even more for that. You're my best friend," she whispered.

Ororo tightened her hold on Jean, nuzzling her face into her friend's neck. "You're mine, too, Jean. Just . . . just know if you ever need me, I'm here, always. I've always got your back."

Jean broke the embrace and cast Storm a smile. Ororo managed to smile in return, and with that, the two locked arms with one another. They proceeded to walk down to the garage in silence, to see everyone else ready. Jean made her way over to Scott, who leaned down and kissed her gently.

"You look beautiful," he whispered.

Hellfire Manor – One Hour Later

It was a little over an hour later the X-men, Tony and Pepper arrived at Hellfire Manor. Upon pulling up to the enormous, extravagant estate, Warren could instantaneously see how Emma Frost had managed to end up there at some point in her life. She must've worked hard enough to reach the top. He also remembered how his parents would talk of this place; how they would come home from parties at Hellfire Manor. The elaborate, luxurious lifestyle had been everything Warren had wanted growing up. Now, he was seeing the estate in person for the first time.

"So, Wings, this was where yer parents would go once a month?" asked Logan. Seeing Logan in a suit and tie was almost laughable for the X-men, but even Logan cleaned up well.

"You could say," Warren said with a grin as they approached the doors. "I knew one day, somehow, I'd end up here. I hadn't expected it to be tonight."

"Well, Warren, I am quite inquisitive as to why we were asked to be here," Professor Xavier said.

"Emma was pretty cryptic over the phone. Doesn't surprise me, though; she was never one to give too many details about her life," Warren explained as they reached the front entrance of the estate.

"And I've always had quite a good reason to, dear. You can never be too careful in this world. If you give too much away, it'll get you into trouble, as you already know," said a sultry, calm voice behind them. Warren turned to see Emma behind him, smiling that charming, mischievous smile of hers.

She looked exactly as Warren remembered: pale blue eyes and Champagne-colored hair that stood out against her fair features. From what Warren could tell, she'd gotten plastic surgery to remove the branding the Morlocks had placed over her eye. She was wearing a dazzling, ivory, skin-tight dress and a white fur shawl over her shoulders.

"Nice to see you, too, Emma," Warren said to her, lightly giving her an awkward hug. Given how their last encounter had ended, both Warren and Emma couldn't help but feel a little bit gauche around one another. After all, it had been eight years since they last spoken to one another. "You just couldn't resist reminding me of my last screw-up, could you?"

"You and I were both arrogant in our own ways, Warren," Emma reminded him with a smile. "Last time we saw each other you were getting the shit beaten out of you."

"I told you to get away. None of that was on you. Besides, I am glad to see you haven't lost that charming personality of yours," he said. While it was still awkward, he wanted to break the tension. This was still the same Emma who had been his friend. He couldn't just forget what they once were to each other that easily.

Emma rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face was still there as she rested her hand on her old friend's shoulder. That was when he and Emma turned their attention to the X-men who were all there.

"And I already know who you are," she said in a tone that made it clear it was obvious to her. "X-men," she added.

"Indeed," Charles told her with a polite smile, extending his hand forward.

Emma shook his hand politely.

"Your mutant abilities are . . .?" Jean started to ask.

"Telepathy," Emma said. "It got Warren and I out of plenty of tribulation during our time living like street rats. Believe me when I say it wasn't my first choice. But living like a street rat stealing food to survive has a very hilarious way of humbling people."

"We would know," Scott said, sharing a glance with Ororo. At least they found one thing in common with Emma Frost.

"I also can put a diamond-hard shell around my body. Though ironically, that's the part of my mutation I dislike the most. I cannot use my telepathy in that form," Emma further elaborated. She turned to Warren. "So anyway, Warren, the president of our club, Sebastian Shaw, wishes to speak with you about eventually getting you a membership."

"Of course," Warren said to her as he and Emma led the X-men, Tony and Pepper inside.

The main ballroom of the manor was grand and fabulous. Looking around the expensive environment, including the chandelier made of hundreds of Swarovski crystals, it looked completely stunning. Champaign imported from France and Russian vodka were being passed around. It was no mystery why Warren had been brought up by his family to live this kind of lifestyle. For Scott, Jean, Bobby and Hank, it was easy for them to see why Warren had described himself as an "arrogant, spoiled brat" back when he'd been in high school. He'd been raised by his family to live this kind of life from the moment he was in diapers.

The sound of smooth, jazz music was playing throughout the room. Scott grabbed Jean softly by the hand to foxtrot with her. Even though he wasn't much of a dancer, Scott knew how to charm Jean and make her feel like a princess.

"You look gorgeous," he whispered to her.

"How many times are you gonna say it, Slim?" Jean asked with a grin, leaning in to kiss him. She wrapped her arms around his neck firmly, lovingly.

As Scott and Jean kissed on the dance floor, Tony led Pepper onto the floor as well. His relationship he had with Pepper proved to be good for him. Hank and Carly were dancing as well.

"It's nice to see even though this is an event for millionaires, you aren't wearing an image-inducer to hide," Carly noted with a smile towards Hank, stroking the blue fur on his face.

"You always say that you favor me this way," Hank said to her, kissing Carly gently.

While the other X-men were either dancing, eating or drinking, Warren was steered towards Sebastian Shaw by Emma.

"Ah, Mr. Worthington, pleased to meet you," Sebastian said.

"Absolutely. It doesn't surprise me that you want my membership. Afterall, I am the heir of Worthington Industries, last I checked," Warren said.

"Indeed son," Sebastian said. "Your parents would be pleased to see you are going to be an official member."

Warren smiled at that. "Well I made peace with my family a year ago. They realized what they did to me was wrong. They'll support anything I do, at this point."

"That's good to know, Warren," Shaw said.

"So, how did you manage to get Emma into the Hellfire Club?" Warren asked.

"Well, I found her running on the streets, using her telepathic talents to steal food. I saw potential in her; I saw how successful she could be," Shaw said simply.

Emma shifted next to Warren. It was hard for her to stand there next to him.

'I can't help but feel I am betraying him,' she thought. 'This is my best friend.'

'You best keep quiet until we're ready tonight, Frost,' Shaw taunted Emma by projecting his thoughts to her.

Emma tried her hardest not to cast a glare at Shaw as the party continued. The last thing she wanted was to spoil the night for Warren. But she also knew it was already going to be spoiled.

The party continued for hours on end. Logan was sitting at the bar with Cecilia, Hank and Carly, having found drinking buddies in them while Warren was speaking with Shaw. The three of them were taking shots of vodka.

"This shit is the good stuff," Logan noted.

"I would concur, my friend," Hank said with a smile as he and Carly ordered another round.

Out on the dance floor, Remy was leading Anna-Marie in a foxtrot. He had his arms wrapped around her waist. Anna-Marie was wearing a form-fitting, long-sleeved green dress in addition to her gloves. As Remy leaned in to try and kiss her, Anna-Marie pushed him away slightly.

"Sorry there, sugah, but keep those lips off of meh," Anna-Marie said.

"Remy can't help himself, amour," Remy teased her.

"You should, or else you'll end up in a hospital," Anna-Marie warned.

"Maybe it's worth it, non?" Remy suggested.

Anna-Marie sighed. She genuinely liked Remy and enjoyed his company. He flirted with her all the time and made her feel like a billion dollars. But she couldn't lay her lips on his without endangering him, which killed her.

"Remy, Ah care about ya, but Ah can't, and ya know why," she said.

"Remy's willing to wait, chere," he replied, brushing her hair out of her face gently.

Over on Scott and Jean's side, the young couple was dancing, enjoying their time of being together. Jean had her head on Scott's chest as he held her adoringly, stroking her hair and kissing her head.

"Love you," she whispered.

"Love you, too," Scott told her as she opened her eyes.

As Jean started to face her boyfriend, that was when the most awe-striking thing happened.

Across the room, Jean could see someone who looked exactly like her. The flaming red hair, green eyes, slightly round face, her body shape . . . she had to blink several times. She thought maybe the light was playing tricks on her. But as she blinked repeatedly, she saw who it was.

It was her identical twin, Madelyne.

Madelyne, her identical twin whom she missed so much, was there. Maddie was wearing a long, red dress with a neckline that was cut to show a tasteful amount of cleavage. Her hair was curled with tight curls, and she was dancing with some guy. Though she did not appear interested in whoever she was dancing with. Suddenly, that was when Madelyne's eyes landed on her.

Both girls had their jaws dropped open in shock and surprise. Jean felt tears of happiness filling her eyes as she broke away from Scott, running towards Maddie. Maddie did the same with her date, and both girls collided with one another, arms wrapped around each other.

"Maddie!" Jean choked out, relishing the feeling of having her twin sister's arms around her for the first time in ten years. It was probably the first time the young woman had ever felt a true sense of security.

"Jean! Oh, my God!" Madelyne broke away from Jean and held her sister's face in the palms of her hands. Both girls were crying tears of joy. At last, they were reunited.

Up next: The Phoenix Saga Part 4