The X-men of X-Corporation all strive to save and protect a world that hates and fears them. While they face the shortcomings of prejudice, there are other mutants out there who fortunately have more luxury than they do. These mutants are members of the Hellfire Club, an exclusive organization whom Warren Worthington III's old friend, Emma Frost, is part of.
Also a member of the Hellfire Club is Jean Grey's long-lost identical twin sister, Madelyne, who got adopted by Oliva and David Pryor who are known as the "Red King and Queen." For years, the twins yearned for a chance to reunite together, and at the exclusive party for the Hellfire Club, only did the twins reunite for the first time in ten years.
Issue 77: The Phoenix Saga Part 4
Mangold Mental Hospital Pediatric Ward – Ten Years Ago
'Voices . . . so many voices . . .'
'Aliens are out to get me! They killed my family!'
'Pills . . . I need my pills!'
The crazed thoughts and emotions of the mental patients of the Mangold Mental Hospital in Paterson, New Jersey were overwhelming. Many patients had multiple mental ailments and many had given up on them. This was no place for two, nine-year-old girls to be.
Jean and Madelyne Grey sat in their padded cell in the mental hospital, sobbing and rocking back and forth with their arms wrapped tightly around one another. Both girls had tears pouring down their faces as they violently shook. They both were identical, flaming red hair and green eyes. The two little girls had been in Mangold for approximately two weeks. Jean had just awoken from her coma, while Maddie had been transferred to Mangold from the previous hospital that she had been in.
The two little girls were overwhelmed with thoughts upon thoughts, hearing voices upon voices in their heads. In addition to hearing voices, both sisters found that they could make things move. It was thought they were making objects move in their cell because of seizures that they were suffering through. Their depressed, terrified thoughts rolled through their minds, but what scared them more was they thought they could hear each other.
'Mommy and Daddy are dead . . . nobody wants us,' thought little Jean Grey as she clutched Maddie to her tighter than before.
'I want Mommy and Daddy!' Maddie thought, whimpering and sobbing as she clung to her sister for comfort. All they wanted was to go home, to be in their bunkbeds that they had shared, cuddling their stuffed animals. They wanted the comfort of their mother and father desperately. They wanted their older brothers and sisters. Both were terrified. All they had was each other.
'Please . . . Please make it stop!' thought Madelyne.
"Quiet . . . quiet . . . quiet!" cried out Jean as she began to slam her hands against her ears tightly, as if she were trying to block out the sounds of the voices that were filling her mind. She continued to sob loudly as she felt Madelyne's arms tightening around her significantly.
The two little girls were rocking backward and forward, sobbing and holding onto one another for whatever comfort they could offer each other. They didn't even notice their doctor, Dr. Rosenberg. He was speaking with several people from the Morrison Mental Institution about transferring Jean there. He hated the idea of Jean and her sister being separated from each other. On the other hand, however, he did not have the resources to keep them there. They were both wearing him and his staff thin, and he needed someone else to take Jean. He'd already made a call to another pediatric hospital to take Maddie off his hands. Both girls felt like such a burden to him.
"I hate the idea of these girls suffering, but I just cannot keep them here anymore. They're wearing my staff thin, and my hands are tied. We just do not have the resources to help either one of them. There is nothing that we can do for them here," he was saying to the doctor from Morrison.
"And you think we do?" asked Dr. Grant Kirby in an exasperated tone.
"Dr. Kirby, please, you are the last hope for Jean," Dr. Rosenberg said in a pleading voice.
Dr. Kirby stood there, watching Jean and Madelyne in their cell. His heart broke at the thought of needing to separate them from one another. Both girls were crying and crying, shuddering, asking repeatedly for their mommy and daddy who were dead. They were obviously cold and scared, and were trying to comfort one another as best they could. He could hear them talking to each other.
"I'm scared, Maddie!" Jean was sobbing out, clinging on even tighter to her sister.
"I'm scared too, Jean!" Madelyne cried. Their faces were soaked with tears, and their eyes were bloodshot.
Dr. Kirby let out a sigh as he looked at his employees. He knew this was going to be difficult, and that Madelyne and Jean weren't going to make it easy for him. Coming into the room, he could see the objects were shaking violently. Both girls were continuing to just cry.
"Jean . . . Jean Grey? You're coming with us," Dr. Kirby said.
Jean shook her head, sobbing and sniffling as she hugged Maddie even harder.
"No! No, don't take her away!" Maddie screamed out, trying to protect her sister with all she had. "Don't hurt her! Don't hurt her, please. Don't make her leave me!"
"I don't wanna go!" Jean sobbed.
"Jean, you have to come with us," Dr. Kirby repeated.
"NO!" Jean screamed violently as two of the workers from Morrison grabbed her, trying to pull her off her sister. But Jean screamed and thrashed about, her eyes growing wide as Maddie tried getting up to grab her hand.
"JEAN!" Maddie screamed out.
"MADDIE!"
"JEAN!"
"MADDIE! MADDIE! MADDIE DON'T GO! I WANNA STAY WITH YOU!" Jean screamed, her voice sounding like a screech as she tried to reach for her sister.
"LEAVE HER ALONE!" That was when Maddie made the bed that had been nailed to the floor go flying at the Morrison employees, trying to get them to leave her sister alone. "LET HER GO! DON'T HURT HER! LEAVE HER ALONE!"
"MAAAAAADDIIIIIEEEEEEE!" Jean screamed out. She continued to struggle and scream and cry, until the doctor injected her with a sedative. Even as she fell into a drug-induced sleep, she could still hear Maddie's screams.
Hellfire Manor – Present Day
Jean could not help but look at her identical twin sister. She could hardly dare to believe that it was real. It was almost too good to be true for her.
"Is this real?" she asked, tears still in her eyes. "Am I dreaming right now?"
"Well, you and I are thinking the same thing right now," Madelyne giggled, hugging her sister again tightly.
"I missed you so much!" Jean sobbed out. "I – I never thought I'd see you again."
'I missed you, too,' Madelyne projected to Jean, disentangling herself from her sister.
"Telepathy?" Jean asked with a tearful smile.
"Among a few other tricks," Madelyne said, grinning. She grabbed Jean by the hand. "C'mon, let's talk out on the balcony. It's quieter outside."
Jean nodded. Both she and her sister had a lot of catching up to do after ten years of being kept apart from one another. Leaning against the balcony, both sisters breathed in the clean, crisp air.
"What the hell happened to you?" Jean asked with a grin, continuing to wipe her tears out of her eyes.
"My adoptive parents, Olivia and David Pryor, adopted me when I was twelve," Maddie explained. "They took me in, and they explained to me what a mutant was. They and members of the Hellfire Club trained me. From there, I learned what telepathy and telekinesis were. But I also discovered I can do other things, too."
"What kinds of things?" Jean asked, curious.
"Watch." Madelyne's eyes glowed an aura of purple as she extended her hand outward. That was when a strange portal opened, to reveal strange, goblin-like creatures coming out. With a snap of her fingers, the goblins disappeared. "I learned I can tap into demonic dimensions."
"That explains how you were having illusions of demons and monsters in the mental hospital," Jean said with a shrug.
"But it is pretty cool, right?" Madelyne asked with her mischievous smile.
Jean nodded in agreement. She was happy to see that her twin hadn't changed much over the years.
"So, what can you do?" Maddie asked.
"We're identical twins, Maddie," Jean said. "I've got telepathy and telekinesis, like you. My powers just seem less advanced and precise than yours are."
"That's so cool," Maddie said with a smile, a hand on Jean's shoulder. "My parents told me you are a member of the X-men?"
"A founding member, yes," Jean said. "I was in Morrison Mental Institution until the age of seventeen when Professor Charles Xavier came and got me out. I was one of the first students he took in. He's like a father to me. He's like a father to all the X-men. Plus, I am under Tony Stark's employment, or at least that's what's promised to me after I graduate. I'm planning to go to NYU or Empire State University for the pre-med program this fall. I'm hoping I get accepted in."
Madelyne smiled wider. "So, who was that boy you were dancing with?"
"Oh, Scott – Cyclops? He's my boyfriend," Jean said. "And you'd be happy to hear Mr. Stark and his lawyer had managed to find our older siblings. I'm shocked you haven't heard that I was part of the X-men. We would've been able to reunite sooner."
"I didn't know, honestly," Maddie said with a shrug. "But I'm glad to see you're here. It was suggested by my adoptive parents that we invite you and the X-men to this gala."
"I know. Emma Frost made the call to our teammate, Angel," Jean explained. "Apparently, she's an old friend of his."
"Well, I am really happy you're here. You just got me away from my date for the night, Shinobi Shaw, Sebastian Shaw's son. Let me tell you, I've got very little affection for the guy, yet he's determined to be my future husband. He keeps trying to woo his way into my bed, so that he can have his cake and eat it, too. If you watch the show Game of Thrones, I guess you could say he's Ramsay, or Joffrey," Madelyne explained in disgust. "Believe me, he wouldn't be my first choice for a boyfriend. But I cannot say anything. I cannot complain about anything because my adoptive family gives me a good life. But still, dating Shinobi, the thought of it bothers me. At least your boyfriend seems like someone you actually want to be with."
"He is. He's awesome," Jean said. "But why would Shaw's son want to be with you, though?"
"My adoptive family is part of this Hellfire Club-based organization called the Inner Circle. It consists of mostly telepathic and telekinetic mutants. God willing, I'm going to take up the mantle of being the Red Queen, which is my mom's current title," Madelyne explained. "If I marry or date Shinobi, it'll make us royalty. But I am not thrilled about it. Emma knows it, too. After all, she did leave this place to start a school in Boston, last time I checked."
"What's the name of her school?" Jean asked.
"The Academy of Tomorrow for the Gifted," Madelyne said. "And by gifted, I mean mutants, like us."
"Yeah, I know what you mean there, Maddie. My gifts felt like such a curse at first," Jean said.
"It starts off that way for everyone," Madelyne said softly. "It certainly felt that way for me. You of all people should know that."
Jean nodded. Though she decided to change the subject. "Anyways, I am hoping for at least one thing, that I hope didn't change about you," she said.
"And what's that?" Madelyne asked.
"You can read my mind. You tell me." Jean smirked in her sister's direction.
"You wanna know if I can still do a cartwheel or a split," declared Madelyne, going to detach the skirt on her dress. "I can show you out here. The skirt on this dress is detachable – custom made from Yves St. Laurent. Yeah, I have a YSL fetish. It's one of my many weaknesses. And yes, white chocolate raspberry truffle from Haagen Dazs is still my favorite, just so you know."
"You're crazy," Jean said, leaning back against the balcony as she watched her sister do a backhand spring, then a cartwheel, and ending with a split. "But I am happy to see you haven't changed a bit," she added as Madelyne got up and put the skirt back on her dress. The two shared another, long embrace, Jean burrowing her face into her sister's neck. "I missed you. I don't think I can say it enough."
"Love you always," Maddie murmured, before they broke apart. "C'mon, let's head back inside before someone forms a search party for us."
"Agreed." Jean locked arms with her sister and they proceeded to head back into the party, where they could see Logan standing at the door to the balcony.
"There you are I was lookin' fer ya, kid," Logan said to her.
"I figured," Jean said with a grin.
That was when Logan noticed Madelyne standing at Jean's side. "Two of ya?" he asked.
"Yeah," Jean said. "I told you, I had a twin sister."
Logan grinned at them both as they went back inside. Once they were back inside the main ballroom, Madelyne and Jean went onto the dance floor so Jean could introduce her boyfriend and Ororo to her identical twin sister.
Jean dragged Madelyne by the arm, grinning as she brought Madelyne over to where Scott and Ororo were waiting for her.
"Okay, you're giddy right now. I don't think I've seen you this happy since your birthday," Ororo said with a smile. "And I think I can see why."
Madelyne and Jean giggled. They both looked so strikingly similar, it came off as more of a surprise to Ororo and Scott than it should have.
"Alright, well, it looks like we're going to need nametags for the both of you," Scott joked as Remy passed them.
"I was looking to cut my hair, anyway," said Madelyne.
"Whoa, two hot redheads," Remy said, whistling. Rogue nudged him in the ribs while Scott shook his head.
"One of those hot redheads happens to be my girlfriend, Gambit," Scott quipped, grabbing Jean by the arm and throwing his arm around her shoulders.
"Remy's just saying," Gambit said.
Madelyne and Jean laughed again, especially as Rogue glared at Remy with a shake of her head. Jean then felt Madelyne grabbing her arm again.
'C'mon, sis. Let's go to the bar. I'll get you some Café Patron,' Madelyne told her telepathically.
'Aren't we underage?' Jean replied with a smirk on her lips.
'And there, sis, lies the fun,' Madelyne declared. 'I'm going to break your alcohol virginity tonight.'
'You are such a bad influence!' Jean said as Madelyne began to lead her away.
'It's my specialty,' Madelyne told her, throwing an arm around Jean's shoulders and hugging her.
Over on Bobby's side of the room, however, the soon-to-be-sixteen-year-old watched the happy reunion between Jean and another one of her siblings. It made him think of his own family back in Boston. Sure, Jean didn't have her mother and father, but at least she had her brothers and sisters. For Bobby, he was a little envious.
'At least Jean's happy,' he thought as he drank a Shirley Temple after having used his powers to put more ice cubes into it, feeling Kitty and Kurt's presence near him.
"You alright, Bobby?" Kitty asked him.
Bobby breathed out a sigh. "Yeah, I'm okay, Kitty. It's just . . . watching Jean having these reunions with her family members, I can't help but be a little bit jealous. And you know why, so don't ask."
"Ve get it, mein friend," Kurt said, compassionate. "Like you, I've been very alone all zhese years. Most of my life before joining zhe X-men vas being forced to perform in zhe circus because of zhe vay I look. Now, I'm at zhis plateau vhere I am zhinking about vanting companionship."
"You're already finding companionship in Wanda Maximoff, Kurt," said Bobby. "Don't be stupid, Fuzzy. I see the way you two look at each other and how you've gotten closer. But me, I'm watching stuff like this, and even though I am with the X-men, I still feel very alone. I'm watching Scott and Jean, and my two best friends Johnny and Angelica. I cannot help but feel that same sense of companionship and love is missing in my life."
"You don't know who it is you want at this point. All you know is that you do not want to be alone. You want to feel acknowledged," Kitty surmised. "And I guess I get enough of it from my mom and my dad. We all get enough people telling us how great we are. But when it comes to you, and your family, it's almost as though you have to tell yourself you're great."
Bobby nodded. "It's like, am I not worthy of being happy for even just five minutes?"
"You are," Kurt pointed out. "You are vorthy of having zhat. Patience is a virtue, mein friend."
"You keep saying that, Kurt. But I don't wanna be one of those guys who lives alone in his seventies with twenty-seven cats. Then Forge really won't wanna be coming around my future home. His cat allergy is his backdoor escape from every situation. I think we should bring him to Genosha so he can reunite again with Feral."
Kurt, Bobby and Kitty all chuckled at that. Bobby had told Kitty and Kurt that story multiple times.
Twenty Minutes Later
As the party continued, Logan watched from the corner the happy reunion between Jean and her identical twin sister. The identical twins were dancing together as the music picked up into a faster pace and rock music began playing. As he stood there watching the twins together, he couldn't help but feel a little envious. He also felt a little bit of anger resurfacing.
For years, Logan had been nothing but an animal. He'd had his memories wiped clean from his mind, and he had no memory of his family. He did not even know if he had a family. In many ways, the X-men were his family in every way but blood.
Jean, Anna-Marie and Kitty were the daughters he never had, but always wanted. Scott was the son he could've only hoped to have. But at the same time, he had no memory of his biological family. He did not even know for sure his real name was "Logan."
That was why, when Professor Xavier had revealed to him that he'd altered Jean's memories, it had gotten Logan so upset. He hated the idea of anyone's recollections being tampered with. The most he knew of his past was that he'd been in love with some girl named Rose, and that Sabretooth – Victor Creed – for whatever reason, hated his guts.
However, that had slowly changed when he and Carol had started dating. Although they both knew that their relationship was something that wasn't going to last long-term, Logan and Carol had both felt the sense of companionship that had been missing from their lives. Carol had given Logan a person he could easily communicate with. She was easy. One could say it was convenient for a time period.
'I truly do wonder if Carol and I were datin' because it was convenient,' Logan thought as he stood there, drinking a glass of vodka. 'I guess we just dated because we both were tired of bein' alone. But that don't mean our relationship wasn't real.'
As Logan stood there, contemplating exactly how he wanted to live his life, and who he wanted to spend it with, he couldn't help but continue watching Jean and Madelyne.
'At least Jeannie's having a good night,' Logan thought as he stood there in the corner, watching as Jean and her twin sister laughed it up, as though they were picking up exactly where they'd left off years ago. Currently, Madelyne was dragging Jean toward the bar, and using her telekinetic powers to sneak them shots of Café Patron. And Jean seemed to go right along with it, despite understanding she was underage. Madelyne brought out a rebellious, loose side to her sister, while Jean seemed to ground Madelyne and discipline her. The two were a balance; a yin-and-yang. However, he soon felt another's presence near him. Turning his head, he saw Ororo standing near him. The peaceful weather goddess had a thoughtful look upon her face as she watched Logan.
"I can only assume you are thinking about Jean?" she asked as they watched Jean and Maddie taking shots together at the bar, mischievous smiles on their faces. Their laughter filled the air.
"Yeah, that's part of it, Ro," Logan said. "But I'm also thinkin' about the fact that until joinin' the X-men, I didn't have much."
"As far as family goes?" Ororo asked, inquisitive.
"How'd ya figure?"
"You've been very alone for most of your life, Logan. And now, you're thinking about how you want to live your life, and who you wish to spend it with," Ororo said.
Logan let out a sigh. Ororo proved to be intuitive and seemed to know his moods better than Scott or Jean did.
"You guessed correct again, Ro. But that's not the only thing on my mind. And yes, it's got somethin' to do with Jeannie," Logan explained. He wanted to tell Ororo what Professor Xavier had told him nearly a week ago. He wanted so badly to say that Professor Xavier had manipulated Jean's recollections of the car accident.
But on the other hand, he also knew that Jean's remembrances of the deaths of her parents were very painful for the young woman. What Xavier had done was wrong, but his thought behind it was right. He made the decision that any loving father would have made. Logan found it hard to be angry at Charles for trying to protect his child from further suffering. On the other hand, Logan had the empathy to know what it was like to have memories stripped away from your mind. Whenever you tried to cage the beast, it would always somehow find some way to break free.
As Logan continued contemplating with telling Jean the truth about what the professor had done to her, that was the moment he felt something was off. Something was very, very wrong here. He didn't know what it was, but he could smell it. Looking above the room at a balcony overlooking the ballroom, Logan could see Sebastian Shaw and his followers, Selene Gallio, his son Shinobi, and Regan and Jason Wyngarde. All five had suspicious looks on their faces. Something about all five of them didn't sit well with him at all. And the fact that all the X-men, Tony and Pepper were there, and Jean was reunited with her identical twin, it all seemed like too much of a coincidence.
'Somethin's wrong here,' Logan thought as he sniffed the air. 'It's too convenient . . . Jeannie reuniting with her sister, Warren being invited by an old friend. I don't think this party was designed to do just that. It's too good to be true. I don't like it.'
Logan turned to Ororo. "Storm, don't ya have the feeling that this is all too convenient and good to be true?"
"What do you mean?" Ororo asked.
"It's too convenient," Logan repeated. "I don't think this party was used as an invite to Warren, or to reunite Jeannie with her sister. There's somethin' else happenin' here. I don't know what it is. But I can feel it. I can smell it. We have gotta leave. Go get Chuck. Find Warren. Find everyone."
"Well, where are you going?" Ororo asked.
"To go right to the source." Logan proceeded to make his way up towards the balcony where Shaw, Shaw's son, the Wyngardes and Selene were. He had the strongest feeling that those five were up to something.
Walking up the stairs towards the balcony, Logan continued to sniff the air, the scent of the room starting to stink. However, just as he was about to confront Shaw, he could hear someone in his head.
'Do not even think about taking another step forward, Wolverine.' It was the voice of a woman. Turning to see who it was, it seemed to be coming from Regan Wyngarde, Jason's daughter. The short blonde dressed in a black corset, floor-length skirt and black gloves was looking at him with a glare on her face.
"What the hell are you motherfuckers planning, bitch?" Logan growled.
"It's nothing that should concern you, Wolverine," Sebastian said coldly.
"Actually, it is," Logan spat. "I don't know what the hell you're plannin' bub, but I ain't letting ya accomplish it."
"Oh really? We shall see about that," said Selene, who was standing there in a black thong and matching corset that showed off her breasts.
"I think your thong is too far up yer ass, sweetheart," Logan snarled. "What the fuck are you sons of bitches plannin' here? Because I do not think this party was just to give us booze and to reunite Jeannie with her identical twin."
"You are correct, Wolverine," said Jason Wyngarde softly. "But there's nothing that we can tell you just yet."
Logan unsheathed his claws, determined to get answers one way or another. That was especially if it involved his students, whom he loved like his own kids. You could do whatever you wanted to him; just don't touch his children. However, that was when he felt a surging, painful, psychic attack coming over his mind, seemingly coming from Regan, Selene and Jason in particular. However, before he could lose consciousness, only one thought ran through his mind.
'Jeannie . . .'
Down near the bar, Jean and Madelyne were leaned against the bar, drinking shots of Café Patron together.
"Cheers," Maddie said, raising her glass. "To the two of us, reuniting at last."
"I'll drink to that," Jean said with a grin as they clinked glasses, before they proceeded to take their shots. However, before Madelyne could sneak them another round, Scott came over to Jean. The two shared an intoxicating, heavenly kiss that Jean initiated, wrapping her arms around his neck lovingly.
"C'mon, dance with me," Jean said, grabbing Scott by the hand. "Let's go, Slim."
"I will join you both," Madelyne said with a smile.
Scott wrapped his arm around his girlfriend, kissing the top of her head. However, he felt the need to tell her something that he'd meant to tell her earlier that week.
"Hey, do you know what everyone's going around on social media calling you?" Scott asked Jean.
"Do I wanna know?" Jean asked him with a grin.
"Yeah. They're calling you 'the Phoenix'. It's cool, right?" Scott declared. "You know? The holy bird that rises from the dead?"
Just as Scott said those words, Jean could hear telepathic voices speaking to her deeply within her mind. They were all ominous . . . chilling . . .
'Jean, it is time for you to face your destiny, child . . .'
"It's time for you to realize what you truly are capable of. I have waited centuries for you. I have searched the stars for one like you, Jean Grey . . ."
'Time for you to possess the power of a God, Jean.'
Suddenly, Jean could feel her world slowly beginning to spin as she began to hear dozens of voices filling her mind. Her eyes drifted to the ceiling, feeling an intense dizziness overcoming her. An overwhelming sense of dread filled her stomach as she began to clutch the sides of her head.
"Oh, mmmph! Stop . . . stop . . . stop," she moaned, her voice beginning to shake as her eyes flooded with tears.
"Jean? What's the matter?" Madelyne asked her sister, leaning a gentle hand onto her twin's shoulder to try and calm her down.
"I don't feel so good," Jean moaned, moving a hand to her forehead as she began panting.
"What's wrong?" Scott whispered. "Baby, talk to me."
Jean, however, was too distracted by her whole world spinning around her. She clamped her hands down against her head harder. She continued to whisper, "Stop . . . stop . . . stop . . . stop . . . stop . . ."
Jean's current state caught the attention of Ororo and Cecilia, who walked forward to see what was going on with her. A glow of orange began surrounding Jean as her eyes opened, to reveal her orbs were glowing a warm, fiery orange. Her breathing was growing erratic as her pulse became faster.
"Jean," Cecilia whispered. She gently rested her hands onto Jean's forearms to try and give her something to focus on. "Honey, what is it?"
"Stop . . . stop . . . stop . . . stop . . ." Jean whimpered, her breathing shaking violently. "Quiet . . . quiet . . . quiet . . . I said QUIET!" she finally screamed out. With that said, a powerful, telekinetic pulse burst from her. The thrust resulted in everyone in the room being shoved backwards as her world spun, until finally, she fell to the ground as blackness consumed her.
Up in the balcony, the members of the Inner Circle smiled sadistically as they slowly climbed down the stairs towards the unconscious young woman. Jean was laying in the center of the ballroom, black ashes underneath her. Leaning over, Sebastian Shaw bent down, picking her up into his arms.
"Finally, it's time," he whispered cunningly, stroking Jean's face. "We – as members of the Inner Circle – have waited for centuries. And finally, the unlimited power we have been in search for is finally here, on Earth. We have searched for so long for power that she never wanted. Jean Grey, you will face your destiny as a child of light and darkness, and you will learn the truth."
Up next: The Phoenix Saga Part 5