EPILOGUE
It's been nearly three years since I've written. During that time, I've had hardly a spare moment to sit in front of a computer let alone pick up pen and paper. Hard to believe that it's been almost seven years since I've rejoined the X-men, but it seems like a lifetime ago to me. Yet now I can finally sit down and write from where I had left off. I can only dream of having the time to write out all the details like I did before, but this will have to do for now.
We won, of course. I shouldn't say "of course", as there were times when I thought we didn't stand a chance. When we reached earth, we were found right away by Apocalypse, who had been in hibernation all these years. We teamed up with him – knowing full well that he'd betray us later on --- to push the Cetians back to their planet and defeat Dagron once and for all. After that, we kicked Apocalypse's butt when he turned on us. I make it sound easy, but trust me, it wasn't; nor was it a quick war. Perhaps someday I'll tell you the whole story but I guess for now I want to dwell only on the happier things.
Professor X and Cyclops rejoined us at a critical point. When Scott and Jubilee reached An'zhina, he left his children with their grandparents and then Scott, the Professor, and Angel boarded a cloaked shuttle bound for earth, to join us in our efforts. They saved us at a point when things seemed hopeless but that, too, is a tale for another day.
When the dust settled, earth was in shambles. Heck, the dust is still settling and it will take decades for the planet and all of its inhabitants to deal with and begin to recover from the devastation. Millions had been killed or transported back to the Cetian home world during the wars and we have not the resources to mount a mission to bring them home. FOH had been running the governments of most countries, but FOH had been the first targets of the Cetians and Dagron. Governments, industries, schools – everything had been wiped out across the whole planet and millions were facing starvation. Our planet's natural resources had been plundered. The chaos we faced in putting things in working order was comparable to life on board Freedom after freeing people from a mutant concentration camp – multiplied by a billion or two.
When the worst of the bedlam was over, Jean Grey and Dani Moonstar boarded one of the few operable starships and trekked towards An'zhina. Jean went, obviously, to see her children again but also because she was mentally exhausted --- we had relied on her telepathy constantly during the war. I watched them leave, wistful for An'zhina. The last time I'd left that moon was when the X-men set off to retrieve our shuttle from Dagron's homeworld, and I'd had absolutely no idea that I'd never return. I think I'd even left a few personal items back in my room on An'zhina.
When Jean and Dani reached An'zhina, they retrieved anyone who wished to return to earth, promising that someone would return again for those who wanted to consider it later on. Eventually, about 100 mutants decided to remain on An'zhina. In that first group, among those returning with Jean and Dani were Jean's children, parents, sister, niece, and nephew, as well as Jubilee and Rory, Panda and her son Rob, and Moira MacTaggart and Banshee. I can only imagine Jean's (and later, Scott's) delight at being reunited with her children. I was most happy to see Jubilee and Rory again, and I was shocked at how much Aurora had grown!
We rebuilt our mansion. Not as big or as elaborate as the old one – it had become clear for everyone on the planet that we could no longer live as large as we had --- but it suffices. It's actually more of a headquarters than a mansion but we all still call it "the mansion". The location of the new mansion is not far from the one that FOH destroyed seven years ago. It serves as our base as we undertake the activities to get this planet running again: serving as peace-keepers, repairing and rebuilding, providing medical attention, counseling the grieved, and on and on. We are in and out of the mansion all the time on different missions all over the world. I generally work about 10-15 hours a day, every day, and I think most X-men work at least that much, if not more. So you see why I haven't had the time to write so much.
So let me tell you how we're all doing. I'll start with the man who is still my best friend. Hank is working harder than probably everyone. He and Panda are still married, though they are seeing a marriage counselor together. He manages to make time for it during his amazingly busy day, which has to demonstrate to Panda how committed he is and give her reason to forgive him. Panda seems okay now. I was going to write "happy" but I think that would be a lie. "Okay" is more like it. She just began to attend medical school at one of the recently rebuilt universities located in Switzerland; Nightcrawler teleports her there every day. Hank says she's progressing well in her studies.
Their son, my namesake, is polite but a little withdrawn. I've made overtures, attempting to get to know him better but he's not interested. I don't like to entertain the idea that perhaps Panda turned him against me, but it is a possibility. Anyway, I think Hank and Panda's marriage counseling is helping as they've talked about wanting to have another child someday. But right now, they simply do not have the time.
Hank's free time is little and far between. We hang out when we can but it is not unusual for weeks or even a month or two to pass with us seeing each other only at an occasional breakfast at the mansion. His work and his family come first, though in what order I'm not sure. But, you know, when we do get the time to sit down together, snacking and watching a cheesy horror film, it feels just like the old days again and I'm happy.
Jubes and Sam broke up. Sam was devastated when he found out that his family had been killed. He always seemed so steady, I never thought he'd take it so badly but he had a breakdown. Kurt's been helping him a lot but by the time Jubilee rejoined us, Sam was a different person. So, perhaps, was Jubilee. Sam's become very religious and he seems basically alright now but there was a time when we all were really worried about him.
Jubilee is fantastic. She missed the war and maybe that's a good thing. She's herself, just a bit older, but still with the same zest and love of life.
And Mirage is doing well too. I was bowed over by her use of her powers during the war. She helped tremendously. You might wonder why I skipped from Jubilee to Dani/Mirage. Well, let me say that they share a room at the mansion. I asked why and was told it's because of limited space at the new, smaller mansion. I don't buy it for a second. Someday I wanna know what happened during their trip from An'zhina to earth, but they're keeping things quiet now and I have to respect that.
And I love Rory. She's great as always. In my spare time, we play and watch movies. I know I'm one of her favorite uncles.
Speaking of children, Jeanne-Marie got her wish. No, I haven't become a father (thank you, God) but Hector "Wraith" Rendoza has. You read that right. I guess at some point he told her he'd always wanted children, having come from a large, Mexican family. The Jeanne-Marie of old, Jean- Paul tells me, would've been horrified at the possibility of having children with Hector's mutation. But this Jeanne-Marie didn't care, and she gave birth to identical twin daughters. And no, I don't know if the twins were conceived the normal way or whether some type of insemination process was used. From Jean-Paul's hints, I suspect it's the former but I don't ask. Jeanne-Marie and Hector are not married, though they are both taking their co-parenting roles very seriously.
The girls were named Veronica and Esperanza ("Esperanza" being the Spanish word for "hope"). They are both mutants, but the nature of their mutation is unknown now. Unfortunately, I know that their birth cannot make up for the loss of Jeanne-Marie's son Stephan. From what we could piece together, he was killed during one of the early Cetian/Dagron attacks. But because it was wartime, no one is certain exactly how he met his fate.
So basically Jeanne-Marie and Hector having children together has worked out well for everyone. Jeanne-Marie and Hector are both parents, as they wanted to be. Jean-Paul is a very involved and very doting uncle, more or less as he wanted. And me, I spend a decent amount of time with the twins too but have thankfully managed to avoid changing too many diapers.
Jean-Paul and I won't be having kids of our own, but we did have a blessed event. Reader, I married him. Without hesitation and without doubt of our love. (And without too many decorations either; the days of fancy An'zhinian weddings where you could replicate whatever your heart desired are gone). I knew I was marrying a stubborn man with a controlling streak, but I also knew he was caring, loving, and heroic. (If I ever do sit down and write about the battles we faced, I will tell you more of Northstar's heroism.) Everything we've lived through over the last several years has brought us much closer together --- and I think you can say that for most of the couples.
We had a small ceremony in the mansion, and I got teary when he read his handwritten vows, saying "my love, if I had four lives to live, I'd live them all with you." After the ceremony, we were met with hugs, kisses, and congratulations. People scraped money together for gifts after we'd begged them not to. No honeymoon though. Too much to do and not too many "honeymoon" type places to go anymore with everything still being rebuilt, so much of the planet having been basically trashed. Someday, maybe, we'll find a place to honeymoon when we're not working as peacekeepers, or repairing roads, or training freed mutants how to control their powers, advising fledgling governments, monitoring former FOH leaders or any of the other hundred things the X-men work on now.
But we do joke with Rogue and Remy, who are still very close friends of ours, about some day the four of us taking a starship to the Paradise Planet to have the honeymoons we never did take. At the rate we're going, we'll all be sixty by the time this can happen but returning there someday is a dream we all share. We could hang with the natives, dance, watch sunsets, check in with Psylocke, whatever. Some X-men, myself included, talk half-seriously about retiring there once earth is in better shape. But that's a long way off; we probably will be sixty by the time our work is anywhere near done.
And Rogue and Remy are still very happy together. That much is evident; their happiness is almost palpable in the air. Remy had a close call during one of the battles, so I know they treasure every moment together. He had more than his share of injuries too, including a serious knee injury. Neither Hank nor Shaman has been able to repair it fully and Remy often has trouble getting around.
Rogue and Gambit don't have children. They tried once more but again miscarried early on. They told no one --- I didn't even know they had been pregnant again until a while after the miscarriage. Once Rogue did open up with me, she told me they were both okay without kids but that maybe when they were older, they'd consider adopting. There are millions of war orphans they can choose from. But kids or no kids, you don't see a more content or loving pair than Remy and Rogue.
Storm spends much of her time in Africa. Between the already-rampant poverty, wars, and AIDS crisis, her native continent was already in trouble before the Cetians and Dagron arrived. Storm is like a machine, helping communities to rebuild, learn, cope, survive, and even thrive. Jean-Paul flew me there a few times to help and I can only marvel at what Storm does. If we all had a fraction of her energy and caring, the world's problems would be smaller.
She and Cyclops are officially co-leaders of the X-men again, and Storm did a STELLAR job leading us during the war against the Cetians, Dagron, and later Apocalypse. I am still in awe of her.
Wolverine spends about half of his time with Storm in Africa, and the other half working on the same kinds of things that all the X-men are doing around the world. And he still goes off by himself once in a while. I don't have the kind of relationship with either of them where I can pry for details of their lovelife, but Rogue tells me that Storm and Wolverine are great – still in love and enjoying the time they have together.
Well, since I'm on a roll with the couples, I may as well go to Cyclops and Jean next. I suppose it will not surprise you if I say that they are in love as always. The time they spent apart during the war – and there was a lot of it – only seemed to intensify their love. They are inseparable now.
And despite what others might think, they haven't had it easy. Jean's father passed away after a brief, but agonizing, bout with cancer. Jean's nephew Joe has been struggling a lot too. This war and these times are harder on the psyche than anyone can imagine, and there are some days when we all wish we'd just stayed on An'zhina. Joe's problems seem to be more than the typical adolescent drama.
But Jean and Scott's kids are well. Charlotte is brilliant, calm, and thoughtful and she has "leader" written all over her. Christopher is more aggressive and loud – maybe bold is the word I'm looking for. He could be a strong leader someday too. He's not as diligent in his studies as Charlotte is, much to his father's annoyance.
There are rumors floating around that the father of a baby girl that Queen Marina bore a few years ago is Cyclops. (The baby, supposedly, the result of that night he spent with her in order to acquire a cure for Jean-Paul.) From what I can estimate, the timing would have been about right, but I can't get the real scoop on this from anyone. Both Jubilee and Dani know something, but they aren't talking. If it is true, I'd imagine it might put a strain on Jean and Scott's relationship. But they seem closer than ever, so either it's not true or it's not hurting them.
So who am I missing? Shaman and his family, and Moira and Banshee all are well. Kurt perhaps has the busiest schedule after Hank. Counseling is in big demand; I heard an estimate that between 85-95% of the population is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. I truly don't have time to share even a taste of the agony that most of the people in the world have suffered during the past few years.
Warren died during the war. I wasn't surprised; he kind of lost it when he learned that we had teamed with his old arch-nemesis Apocalypse. We were never close (understatement) but I do regret his loss.
Mark Burroughs, the former FOH soldier, works with us and lives at the mansion. He's a solid and steady worker. He was attacked one day by some former FOH soldiers (we've not been able to locate, arrest, and try all of them. Tons of them escaped.) He's okay now but he always carries weapons, which we've trained him well on.
Alexander, the mutant who the Pirates rescued, is a full-fledged X-man. His power to create food and his skills as a doctor have put him in high demand. He and Storm are still close. I've seen Alexander and Storm spend some time together during her trips to the mansion, and sometimes they even go to dinner along with their significant others. (Alexander has a girlfriend. She's not a mutant. She's absolutely gorgeous too.)
The women continue their healing ceremonies. Us guys talked for a while about doing something too until finally a few months ago, a bunch of us just went out for beer while the women held their ceremony. We joked that we should call it a Beer Ceremony. Even Kurt and Cyke went along and we actually had a blast.
But when we returned to the mansion, we found a tragedy. Professor X had just died. Peacefully and calmly, in his sleep apparently – at least that's the best Jean could figure it. We stood around his body, all of us X-men, holding each other and sobbing. He's now followed his old arch-enemy Magneto in death, seven years later. We X-men were consoled by the fact that we all were together during this time.
We knew the immense stress he'd been under had to have been a part of it, but as Cyclops said during his speech at the funeral, there was perhaps more to his death than that. The Professor accomplished just what he had set out to do decades ago. The planet that had spurned us, cast us into exile, now realized that we were its saviors. "Feared and hated by a world we are sworn to protect." We had protected the world, and the fear and hatred that non-mutants used to feel for us are fading as they realize what we have done. Content with this knowledge, the Professor perhaps realized he could pass into the next world. So he is gone from this one but with us always. We will continue to proudly carry on his legacy forever.
THE END
Note from the author: I plan to eventually write a few vignettes/short stories to update you on the lives of the characters. I may even write one that goes back in time and more fully explores an event that took place during the trilogy (a deleted scene, like on a DVD!)
It's been nearly three years since I've written. During that time, I've had hardly a spare moment to sit in front of a computer let alone pick up pen and paper. Hard to believe that it's been almost seven years since I've rejoined the X-men, but it seems like a lifetime ago to me. Yet now I can finally sit down and write from where I had left off. I can only dream of having the time to write out all the details like I did before, but this will have to do for now.
We won, of course. I shouldn't say "of course", as there were times when I thought we didn't stand a chance. When we reached earth, we were found right away by Apocalypse, who had been in hibernation all these years. We teamed up with him – knowing full well that he'd betray us later on --- to push the Cetians back to their planet and defeat Dagron once and for all. After that, we kicked Apocalypse's butt when he turned on us. I make it sound easy, but trust me, it wasn't; nor was it a quick war. Perhaps someday I'll tell you the whole story but I guess for now I want to dwell only on the happier things.
Professor X and Cyclops rejoined us at a critical point. When Scott and Jubilee reached An'zhina, he left his children with their grandparents and then Scott, the Professor, and Angel boarded a cloaked shuttle bound for earth, to join us in our efforts. They saved us at a point when things seemed hopeless but that, too, is a tale for another day.
When the dust settled, earth was in shambles. Heck, the dust is still settling and it will take decades for the planet and all of its inhabitants to deal with and begin to recover from the devastation. Millions had been killed or transported back to the Cetian home world during the wars and we have not the resources to mount a mission to bring them home. FOH had been running the governments of most countries, but FOH had been the first targets of the Cetians and Dagron. Governments, industries, schools – everything had been wiped out across the whole planet and millions were facing starvation. Our planet's natural resources had been plundered. The chaos we faced in putting things in working order was comparable to life on board Freedom after freeing people from a mutant concentration camp – multiplied by a billion or two.
When the worst of the bedlam was over, Jean Grey and Dani Moonstar boarded one of the few operable starships and trekked towards An'zhina. Jean went, obviously, to see her children again but also because she was mentally exhausted --- we had relied on her telepathy constantly during the war. I watched them leave, wistful for An'zhina. The last time I'd left that moon was when the X-men set off to retrieve our shuttle from Dagron's homeworld, and I'd had absolutely no idea that I'd never return. I think I'd even left a few personal items back in my room on An'zhina.
When Jean and Dani reached An'zhina, they retrieved anyone who wished to return to earth, promising that someone would return again for those who wanted to consider it later on. Eventually, about 100 mutants decided to remain on An'zhina. In that first group, among those returning with Jean and Dani were Jean's children, parents, sister, niece, and nephew, as well as Jubilee and Rory, Panda and her son Rob, and Moira MacTaggart and Banshee. I can only imagine Jean's (and later, Scott's) delight at being reunited with her children. I was most happy to see Jubilee and Rory again, and I was shocked at how much Aurora had grown!
We rebuilt our mansion. Not as big or as elaborate as the old one – it had become clear for everyone on the planet that we could no longer live as large as we had --- but it suffices. It's actually more of a headquarters than a mansion but we all still call it "the mansion". The location of the new mansion is not far from the one that FOH destroyed seven years ago. It serves as our base as we undertake the activities to get this planet running again: serving as peace-keepers, repairing and rebuilding, providing medical attention, counseling the grieved, and on and on. We are in and out of the mansion all the time on different missions all over the world. I generally work about 10-15 hours a day, every day, and I think most X-men work at least that much, if not more. So you see why I haven't had the time to write so much.
So let me tell you how we're all doing. I'll start with the man who is still my best friend. Hank is working harder than probably everyone. He and Panda are still married, though they are seeing a marriage counselor together. He manages to make time for it during his amazingly busy day, which has to demonstrate to Panda how committed he is and give her reason to forgive him. Panda seems okay now. I was going to write "happy" but I think that would be a lie. "Okay" is more like it. She just began to attend medical school at one of the recently rebuilt universities located in Switzerland; Nightcrawler teleports her there every day. Hank says she's progressing well in her studies.
Their son, my namesake, is polite but a little withdrawn. I've made overtures, attempting to get to know him better but he's not interested. I don't like to entertain the idea that perhaps Panda turned him against me, but it is a possibility. Anyway, I think Hank and Panda's marriage counseling is helping as they've talked about wanting to have another child someday. But right now, they simply do not have the time.
Hank's free time is little and far between. We hang out when we can but it is not unusual for weeks or even a month or two to pass with us seeing each other only at an occasional breakfast at the mansion. His work and his family come first, though in what order I'm not sure. But, you know, when we do get the time to sit down together, snacking and watching a cheesy horror film, it feels just like the old days again and I'm happy.
Jubes and Sam broke up. Sam was devastated when he found out that his family had been killed. He always seemed so steady, I never thought he'd take it so badly but he had a breakdown. Kurt's been helping him a lot but by the time Jubilee rejoined us, Sam was a different person. So, perhaps, was Jubilee. Sam's become very religious and he seems basically alright now but there was a time when we all were really worried about him.
Jubilee is fantastic. She missed the war and maybe that's a good thing. She's herself, just a bit older, but still with the same zest and love of life.
And Mirage is doing well too. I was bowed over by her use of her powers during the war. She helped tremendously. You might wonder why I skipped from Jubilee to Dani/Mirage. Well, let me say that they share a room at the mansion. I asked why and was told it's because of limited space at the new, smaller mansion. I don't buy it for a second. Someday I wanna know what happened during their trip from An'zhina to earth, but they're keeping things quiet now and I have to respect that.
And I love Rory. She's great as always. In my spare time, we play and watch movies. I know I'm one of her favorite uncles.
Speaking of children, Jeanne-Marie got her wish. No, I haven't become a father (thank you, God) but Hector "Wraith" Rendoza has. You read that right. I guess at some point he told her he'd always wanted children, having come from a large, Mexican family. The Jeanne-Marie of old, Jean- Paul tells me, would've been horrified at the possibility of having children with Hector's mutation. But this Jeanne-Marie didn't care, and she gave birth to identical twin daughters. And no, I don't know if the twins were conceived the normal way or whether some type of insemination process was used. From Jean-Paul's hints, I suspect it's the former but I don't ask. Jeanne-Marie and Hector are not married, though they are both taking their co-parenting roles very seriously.
The girls were named Veronica and Esperanza ("Esperanza" being the Spanish word for "hope"). They are both mutants, but the nature of their mutation is unknown now. Unfortunately, I know that their birth cannot make up for the loss of Jeanne-Marie's son Stephan. From what we could piece together, he was killed during one of the early Cetian/Dagron attacks. But because it was wartime, no one is certain exactly how he met his fate.
So basically Jeanne-Marie and Hector having children together has worked out well for everyone. Jeanne-Marie and Hector are both parents, as they wanted to be. Jean-Paul is a very involved and very doting uncle, more or less as he wanted. And me, I spend a decent amount of time with the twins too but have thankfully managed to avoid changing too many diapers.
Jean-Paul and I won't be having kids of our own, but we did have a blessed event. Reader, I married him. Without hesitation and without doubt of our love. (And without too many decorations either; the days of fancy An'zhinian weddings where you could replicate whatever your heart desired are gone). I knew I was marrying a stubborn man with a controlling streak, but I also knew he was caring, loving, and heroic. (If I ever do sit down and write about the battles we faced, I will tell you more of Northstar's heroism.) Everything we've lived through over the last several years has brought us much closer together --- and I think you can say that for most of the couples.
We had a small ceremony in the mansion, and I got teary when he read his handwritten vows, saying "my love, if I had four lives to live, I'd live them all with you." After the ceremony, we were met with hugs, kisses, and congratulations. People scraped money together for gifts after we'd begged them not to. No honeymoon though. Too much to do and not too many "honeymoon" type places to go anymore with everything still being rebuilt, so much of the planet having been basically trashed. Someday, maybe, we'll find a place to honeymoon when we're not working as peacekeepers, or repairing roads, or training freed mutants how to control their powers, advising fledgling governments, monitoring former FOH leaders or any of the other hundred things the X-men work on now.
But we do joke with Rogue and Remy, who are still very close friends of ours, about some day the four of us taking a starship to the Paradise Planet to have the honeymoons we never did take. At the rate we're going, we'll all be sixty by the time this can happen but returning there someday is a dream we all share. We could hang with the natives, dance, watch sunsets, check in with Psylocke, whatever. Some X-men, myself included, talk half-seriously about retiring there once earth is in better shape. But that's a long way off; we probably will be sixty by the time our work is anywhere near done.
And Rogue and Remy are still very happy together. That much is evident; their happiness is almost palpable in the air. Remy had a close call during one of the battles, so I know they treasure every moment together. He had more than his share of injuries too, including a serious knee injury. Neither Hank nor Shaman has been able to repair it fully and Remy often has trouble getting around.
Rogue and Gambit don't have children. They tried once more but again miscarried early on. They told no one --- I didn't even know they had been pregnant again until a while after the miscarriage. Once Rogue did open up with me, she told me they were both okay without kids but that maybe when they were older, they'd consider adopting. There are millions of war orphans they can choose from. But kids or no kids, you don't see a more content or loving pair than Remy and Rogue.
Storm spends much of her time in Africa. Between the already-rampant poverty, wars, and AIDS crisis, her native continent was already in trouble before the Cetians and Dagron arrived. Storm is like a machine, helping communities to rebuild, learn, cope, survive, and even thrive. Jean-Paul flew me there a few times to help and I can only marvel at what Storm does. If we all had a fraction of her energy and caring, the world's problems would be smaller.
She and Cyclops are officially co-leaders of the X-men again, and Storm did a STELLAR job leading us during the war against the Cetians, Dagron, and later Apocalypse. I am still in awe of her.
Wolverine spends about half of his time with Storm in Africa, and the other half working on the same kinds of things that all the X-men are doing around the world. And he still goes off by himself once in a while. I don't have the kind of relationship with either of them where I can pry for details of their lovelife, but Rogue tells me that Storm and Wolverine are great – still in love and enjoying the time they have together.
Well, since I'm on a roll with the couples, I may as well go to Cyclops and Jean next. I suppose it will not surprise you if I say that they are in love as always. The time they spent apart during the war – and there was a lot of it – only seemed to intensify their love. They are inseparable now.
And despite what others might think, they haven't had it easy. Jean's father passed away after a brief, but agonizing, bout with cancer. Jean's nephew Joe has been struggling a lot too. This war and these times are harder on the psyche than anyone can imagine, and there are some days when we all wish we'd just stayed on An'zhina. Joe's problems seem to be more than the typical adolescent drama.
But Jean and Scott's kids are well. Charlotte is brilliant, calm, and thoughtful and she has "leader" written all over her. Christopher is more aggressive and loud – maybe bold is the word I'm looking for. He could be a strong leader someday too. He's not as diligent in his studies as Charlotte is, much to his father's annoyance.
There are rumors floating around that the father of a baby girl that Queen Marina bore a few years ago is Cyclops. (The baby, supposedly, the result of that night he spent with her in order to acquire a cure for Jean-Paul.) From what I can estimate, the timing would have been about right, but I can't get the real scoop on this from anyone. Both Jubilee and Dani know something, but they aren't talking. If it is true, I'd imagine it might put a strain on Jean and Scott's relationship. But they seem closer than ever, so either it's not true or it's not hurting them.
So who am I missing? Shaman and his family, and Moira and Banshee all are well. Kurt perhaps has the busiest schedule after Hank. Counseling is in big demand; I heard an estimate that between 85-95% of the population is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. I truly don't have time to share even a taste of the agony that most of the people in the world have suffered during the past few years.
Warren died during the war. I wasn't surprised; he kind of lost it when he learned that we had teamed with his old arch-nemesis Apocalypse. We were never close (understatement) but I do regret his loss.
Mark Burroughs, the former FOH soldier, works with us and lives at the mansion. He's a solid and steady worker. He was attacked one day by some former FOH soldiers (we've not been able to locate, arrest, and try all of them. Tons of them escaped.) He's okay now but he always carries weapons, which we've trained him well on.
Alexander, the mutant who the Pirates rescued, is a full-fledged X-man. His power to create food and his skills as a doctor have put him in high demand. He and Storm are still close. I've seen Alexander and Storm spend some time together during her trips to the mansion, and sometimes they even go to dinner along with their significant others. (Alexander has a girlfriend. She's not a mutant. She's absolutely gorgeous too.)
The women continue their healing ceremonies. Us guys talked for a while about doing something too until finally a few months ago, a bunch of us just went out for beer while the women held their ceremony. We joked that we should call it a Beer Ceremony. Even Kurt and Cyke went along and we actually had a blast.
But when we returned to the mansion, we found a tragedy. Professor X had just died. Peacefully and calmly, in his sleep apparently – at least that's the best Jean could figure it. We stood around his body, all of us X-men, holding each other and sobbing. He's now followed his old arch-enemy Magneto in death, seven years later. We X-men were consoled by the fact that we all were together during this time.
We knew the immense stress he'd been under had to have been a part of it, but as Cyclops said during his speech at the funeral, there was perhaps more to his death than that. The Professor accomplished just what he had set out to do decades ago. The planet that had spurned us, cast us into exile, now realized that we were its saviors. "Feared and hated by a world we are sworn to protect." We had protected the world, and the fear and hatred that non-mutants used to feel for us are fading as they realize what we have done. Content with this knowledge, the Professor perhaps realized he could pass into the next world. So he is gone from this one but with us always. We will continue to proudly carry on his legacy forever.
THE END
Note from the author: I plan to eventually write a few vignettes/short stories to update you on the lives of the characters. I may even write one that goes back in time and more fully explores an event that took place during the trilogy (a deleted scene, like on a DVD!)