The X-men of X-Corporation use their powers to fight for peace in a world that hates and fears them for being mutants. In times where the toxicity level towards mutants is growing and tolerance is shrinking, the X-men find that they are being challenged especially with an upcoming presidential election.

After attending a presidential debate between front runners Lilandra Neramani and Edward Kelly, the X-men found that they had to break up a riot started by a new hate group named the "Friends of Humanity", who are determined to spread hatred of mutants. Their attack was centered around an unexpecting Kitty Pryde, whose mutation just manifested during the school day.

However, while the X-men were breaking up the riot and saving Kitty, Tony Stark – their boss – had his health problems catch up to him. While the X-men had been in the Savage Land, Tony kept drinking heavily. However, his heavy drinking led to him developing a heart condition. Cecilia Reyes' ultimatum was "stop drinking, or your condition will worsen." At the debate, Tony's heart condition affected him in the form of a panic attack.

Issue 47: Sober

X-Corporation Tower – Convalescence Room

"Hnnn . . ." Tony Stark groaned out as he felt he was coming back into consciousness. The last thing that he remembered was being at the Illinois Institute of Technology with the X-men and Pepper, having been drinking out of his flask like his life depended on it. Then he remembered he had been experiencing irregular heart rhythm, almost as though his heart was about to burst from his chest, before he had blacked out with Pepper anxiously telling him to stay with her. He could hear a heart monitor nearby, as well as the sounds of whispers above his head.

"Dr. Reyes . . . how long have you known about this?"

"For the past few months, after you'd stopped Magneto on Genosha."

"That long? Are you kidding me right now?"

"Dr. Reyes, it's obvious what this is . . ."

"Tony's always been a workaholic for the longest I've known him. He doesn't stop . . ."

"He thinks of himself in terms of business, but not his health . . ."

Tony groaned again, his eyes slowly opening to see Scott, Jean, Professor Xavier, Rhodey, Pepper, Cecilia and Hank standing around him. He could tell that he was in recovery since he was in a hospital bed. He realized he was hooked up to a heart monitor. However, he could see Jean, the professor; Rhodey, Pepper and Cecilia were glaring down at him with disappointed gazes. Scott and Hank seemed to remain neutral.

"Morning, sunshine," Jean said, not even hiding the cynicism and disenchantment in her voice, tears stinging in her green eyes.

Jean Grey had a few reasons to now be in a foul mood. The presidential debate had been interrupted by a group of anti-mutant extremists, who had caused a riot in a Chicago shopping mall. As a result, she and Kurt had to go in a rescue Kitty Pryde, who had been stuck in a crowd of people fighting like animals. It had been a sight that she did not want to see. Then, Cecilia Reyes informed all the X-men that Tony Stark – their future employer, one of the men who had brought them all together – had had a severe anxiety attack due to irregular heart rhythm caused by an over-consumption of alcohol. Apparently, it dated back to the X-men being kidnapped and sent to the Savage Land. It wasn't if he had a heart attack. It was when he had a heart attack.

"What happened? Where are the others? I –" Tony started to say.

"Don't worry about us! We're fine!" Jean cried out, trying to keep her tears from flowing down her face. "You're not!" She tossed the empty flask that had been filled with gin down on Tony's lap. "Seriously, Mr. Stark? Dr. Reyes just told us everything! And Rhodey, Pepper and Logan found your stash of booze on the Blackbird! What were you thinking? Nearly four months! Four months!"

"Jean, relax," said Scott, going over to try and calm his girlfriend by wrapping his arms around her.

"No . . . I can't right now! I just can't fucking believe this!" Jean sobbed in Scott's chest; her voice muffled as he hugged her tighter. "I'm sorry! I'm trying not to sound like a complete bitch right now!"

"Jean, you're not a bitch; you're upset and you've got every right to be," Pepper told Jean soothingly, her hardened gaze still focused on Tony.

"Tony, I have covered for you for these past few months! I've warned you about what would happen if you continue drinking this excessively," Cecilia said sternly. She moved to rub Jean's back as the girl continued to harshly sob.

Tony breathed out a sigh. "How much worse did it exactly get?" he asked.

"Luckily, for you, the only thing you've got to truly worry about is the heart arrhythmia. From what Pepper has described, you were experiencing the regular symptoms of it. The symptoms include dizziness, palpitations, pains in the chest; lightheadedness. It was a panic attack, which she was scared was a heart attack. But Tony, what you're doing with your drinking isn't managing any of this," declared Cecilia frankly. "If you do not stop, you will get worse, and you will die. I cannot stress it to you enough."

Tony closed his eyes, feeling the embarrassment. He could hear Jean continuing to cry in Scott's arms. He understood that Scott and Jean were both feeling disappointment on the highest level because they expected more from him. They expected him to be better than this. He truly felt as though he'd let his two prodigies down.

'I'm so fucking embarrassed . . . I cannot believe that I am so weak,' he thought

"And on top of this, a mutant girl that we had protected back in Chicago at that mall riot, Kitty Pryde; her and her parents are coming here to tour X-Corporation tomorrow. We'd told her parents about what we're doing here. Her parents are actually seeing this as an option for us to train her on her mutant powers, Tony. We cannot afford to have you neglecting your health for the sake of running two companies. The companies will be here. We will take them and run them to the best of our ability. Your companies will not suffer. Nevertheless, that means nothing if you do not get your health back on track," Xavier said.

"So, what happens next?" Tony asked, not liking the answer that he knew he was going to get.

"The same that goes for any alcoholic or addict; you need help," Rhodey said.

"Since you refuse to leave your workspace and it's practically your home, we will be having Dr. Moira MacTaggart place herself here to put you on a serious detox until you're sober enough," Hank said.

"Why Moira? Doesn't she have your son to take care of?" Tony asked, attempting at sitting up.

"David understands. There's a team of doctors on Muir Island as well as Moira's fiancé, Sean Cassidy. David will be in good hands; and I will be visiting him as I always do, which is average two-to-three times a week," said Professor Xavier.

"Professor . . . I can't allow you to do that for me. I don't need a pity party. I did this to myself; it's on me," Tony said.

"Mr. Stark, put your health first for once, please," Scott said, just sticking with wrapping his arm around his girlfriend, pulling her against his side and kissing her head.

Tony let out a sigh. He knew that he didn't have much of a choice at this point. He knew that his health was at risk due to his drinking problem, and he knew that as long as he kept this up, he was letting his employees and prodigies down. But, no one more than Scott and Jean, who had faced enough disappointment in their lives already by constantly having their hope snatched away from them. However, he also still had that strong sense of stubbornness that a Stark was known for, feeling as though he could take on the burden by himself without anyone's help.

"No, I refuse," he said stubbornly. Scott and Jean sighed in exasperation. They could hardly believe that they were both more mature than their own boss.

"Actually, you don't have a choice, Tony, because Dr. MacTaggart is getting the first flight out of Muir Island; she's already on her way," said Hank. "So therefor, get ready."

Muir Island – Thirty Minutes Later

"Look, luv, I don't know how you're going to handle this one. Dealing with mutants like your son is one thing, but, Tony Stark is the literal definition of a man child. Ye are talking about taking care of a thirty-six-year-old lad who has the thought process of a sixteen-year-old, lass," said Sean Cassidy in his thick Irish accent as he watched his fiancé pack her bags to head to New York.

Moira just laughed lightly. "Sean, I can promise ye that I won't be there that long. It's just until Mr. Stark sobers up enough to where he can function without the dependence on alcohol. But aside from that, I trust ye can handle David for these next couple weeks?"

"Hey, ye are acting as though ye have got no faith in me, luv," Sean told her, caressing her face gently. "Besides, Rahne's been keeping him company. Ye know it's been nearly two years since we've found her."

"Yeah . . . yeah I can remember that, Sean," said Moira with a soft smile on her lips.

She remembered back when she and Sean had first found their adoptive daughter, Rahne Sinclair. She had been a scared, eleven-year-old mutant whose powers of shape-shifting into the form of a wolf had grown out of control over time. It had been due to her scared, overly religious parents who had locked her inside a cage in an effort to perform an exorcism on her. Moira and Sean had had a run-in with her while they had been on a camping trip, due to Rahne having been running away from the terrified locals who had been looking to burn her at the stake.

Luckily, they had both managed to get her out of it with the help of Sean's fifteen-year-old second cousin, Theresa Cassidy, who had similar powers to him, and took Rahne to Charles Xavier who began to tutor her on her mutant powers. After Rahne had become stable, she went to live with Sean and Moira on Muir Island, becoming an adoptive sister of sorts to Moira and Charles' son, David. Now, that scared eleven-year-old wolf shape-shifting mutant had blossomed into a thirteen-year-old girl with a maturity beyond her years.

"I think that after having helped Rahne get control of her mutant powers, that helping Tony Stark reach sobriety should be a walk in the park. Until I get back, make sure ye spend some time with Rahne and David," Moira said, zipping up her suitcase so she could board the plane that was ready for her.

"Don't I always, luv?" asked Sean.

"And, ye won't be alone, because Charles is due for his visit tomorrow," Moira added.

"Ye know, ye, me and Charles have the most non-typical relationship for the fiancé of a man's ex-wife," Sean said.

"And ye can bloody thank God for that, Sean, because if we didn't, I am pretty sure David would go ape shit," said Moira as they exited the facility. "Ye know any little thing makes him unstable, so if anything happens while I am gone, let me know and I'll get the first flight here."

"I promise ye that, luv." Sean kissed her long and sweetly before Moira got onto the private plane being piloted by Harold "Happy" Hogan, Tony's bodyguard.

"Well, according to Charles, he just awoke," Happy said. "Jean took it hard. She's disappointed. According to Pepper, she was crying; she's deeply upset, and for the right reasons."

"Of course, she is; this is the man who is securing her future when everyone else around her let her down, and it's almost as though he doesn't care about his personal health," Moira said with a heavy sigh. "But believe me; even though this will be a breeze in comparison to handling David, there are times where I wouldn't want to deal with Tony. I'd rather deal with my son and my daughter, considering they're easier to handle than the lad who is thirty-five, but has the mind of a child. He shouldn't be near alcohol," she added.

"Tell me about it," Happy said with a shake of his head. "The kid's a workaholic. That's guaranteed to cause a great deal of stress, and his choice of stress relief is drinking. He better find another way to release it, sometime soon."

Moira breathed out a sigh. She knew Tony almost as well as Charles did. She understood that he was an addict; it came from the genetics, too. His father, Howard, had been an abusive alcoholic, which made Tony feel as though Charles was more of a father to him than Howard ever could be.

'I just hope I can help the lad, though I have a feeling Tony Stark is going to be more difficult of a case than my two children,' Moira thought.

X-Corporation Tower – Scott's Room

Scott was in his bedroom, organizing his CD and DVD collection for probably the billionth time in alphabetical order. It was often a joke amongst his friends that he had OCD. Maybe part of that was true. In fact, he had self-diagnosed himself as obsessive-compulsive given how meticulous he was about how he dressed, how clean his room was, and how organized the Danger Room sessions were.

Linkin Park, Skillet, Breaking Benjamin, Nickelback, Evanescence, and Three Days Grace were often the bands he collected albums from, considering he was raised on them. Thankfully, his father had always had the best taste in most things from music to movies. War films like Mel Gibson's The Patriot was one he'd remembered seeing the most, but his all time favorite was Zero Dark Thirty. So, of course, he had those in Blu-Ray. However, he also had a liking for all the Dirty Harry movies, classic 80's films like War Games, and westerns like Unforgiven. Also, his guilty pleasures included the original Death Wish, Inglorious Bastards, Saban's Power Rangers, and Do the Right Thing.

Hearing knocking at the door, he turned to see his girlfriend opening the door telekinetically before letting herself in.

"Let me guess; you're organizing your movies and CDs again?" she asked him.

"You know how tense I am about this . . . maybe I got this from my dad. I remember him doing stuff just like this," Scott explained, organizing his Johnny Quest, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers Turbo, Power Rangers Light Speed Rescue, Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Thundercats, and What's New, Scooby Doo DVDs. He had a spot in his heart for the classic cartoons too. Justice League and Teen Titans were common for him and his brother to be seen watching on a Saturday morning. "Though I think the professor is concerned with my obsession of films and albums. I keep having order after order from Amazon coming in the mail."

"It is concerning Scott; you're going to deplete your savings one day on stupid crap like this," Jean said. "What can I do to break you away from this for two minutes?" She walked over to him, rubbing his shoulders.

"Are you trying to turn me on, or something?" Scott asked.

"We're not even there yet, Slim." Jean had a teasing smile on her face as she kissed him gently. She leaned into his chest, closing her eyes. "I'm just worried about Tony," she admitted.

"Dr. MacTaggart, Pepper and the professor will help him get his shit together," Scott assured her, kissing her forehead.

"This is just so wrong," Jean said.

"I know, Jean, I know that you feel in a way Tony let us down, and he did, but all we can do is move on from that. At this point, we have to move forward. Besides, Kitty's coming tomorrow with her parents," said Scott.

Jean clenched her eyes tighter. "I know. But, Slim I picked up on her thoughts when Kurt and I got her out of there. She-She was so scared."

"I know, what happened today was terrifying. We thought we were just going to watch a presidential debate. Instead, we got thrown into a war at a shopping mall and we learn that Tony has health problems that go beyond drinking heavily."

"Scott, he's the son of an alcoholic; it's in his blood, literally. I've been around enough addicts in the mental hospital to know how dependency on drugs and alcohol can make a person." Jean felt her eyes burning with tears.

Scott hugged her tighter, guiding her towards his bed and lying beside her. "It's gonna be alright, Jean," he whispered. He kissed her forehead gently.

Kurt's Room

For Kurt "Nightcrawler" Wagner, becoming part of the X-men after precisely a week was something that the young mutant tried wrapping his head around. But what he had a much harder time wrapping his young mind around was the fact that he had Rogue as an adoptive sister due to Mystique being his biological mother.

Kurt always knew from the time that he was three that he was different. His ability to teleport and his demonic appearance only further validated what he feared the most about himself. But, being in the circus, he wasn't actually afraid of the cage fighting. He was more so afraid of what could happen if he were outside the circus. He could only pity those who thought that they hated him.

'Vov . . . I vould never think zhat mein life could change so quickly in a flash,' Kurt thought, his hands folded in prayer as he prayed silently for Tony.

As Kurt continued sitting there in solitude, he heard his door opening to see Anna-Marie "Rogue" D'Ancanto, his adoptive sister, coming into the room. Kurt opened his yellow eyes upon realizing who it was.

"How did ya know it was meh, sugah?" Anna-Marie asked him.

"Had a feeling, Rogue," Kurt whispered. "Tell me . . . is Mr. Stark going to be alright?"

"Dr. MacTaggart is comin' in from Muir Island. She's going to start treatment for him immediately; Ah don't know how willing he'll be towards it, though," Rogue said quietly as she sat on Kurt's bed. "However, Ah did wanna address the elephant in the room. Ah-Ah never thought that we were . . ."

"Me neither, mein sister," Kurt said quietly. "I didn't even know Mystique is mein biological mother . . ."

"But, ya did always know somehow that you were different, right?"

"Of course, I did. Vhen you look like how I look, it's hard not to tell zhat I am somehow different from others. I used to zhink of meinself vone vay, but, after learning vhat mutants vere, and being thrown into zhe circus . . . I began to see somezhing else entirely. I'm still me I zhink, but, zhat's not vhat everyone else sees." Kurt smiled ruefully.

"Ah know how ya feel there," Rogue said. "After mah powers manifested . . . Ah didn't even know who Ah was anymore. But then Mystique showed meh what a mutant was . . . and what she was training meh to be. She was training meh to become somethin' of a supremacist. But, Ah just knew after absorbin' Ms. Marvel that that wasn't meh, and Ah had to somehow reinvent mahself. Scott and Jean found meh in the woods, scared, cold; alone. They offered meh a second chance, one Ah probably didn't deserve given what Ah did."

"Everyvone deserves a second chance at redemption, Anna-Marie," Kurt whispered.

"Ah realize that now. But there is one good thang that came outta this crap. Ah gained a little brother." Anna-Marie smiled genuinely at Kurt, leaning in and kissing the blue, fuzzy, elf of a mutant through her scarf. Kurt smiled in return, happy to have a sense of family.

Lobdell Veteran's Housing

"NO MORE MUTANTS! NO MORE MUTANTS! NO MORE MUTANTS! NO MORE MUTANTS!" shouted the angry crowd of Friends of Humanity followers as Graydon Creed and Alyssa Risman took the stage.

"KILL THE MUTIE FREAKS!" shouted one of the followers who were holding a sign that had the X-men's newest member, Kurt Wagner, plastered on it with anti-mutant slurs.

"Now, now, now, everyone; what we had just accomplished in Chicago was just part of phase one," said Graydon Creed calmly, but his words just got everyone in the room angrier and more upset.

"C'mon, Creed! How can you be so calm over this? How?! And word has it, those mutie freaks Tony Stark has got working for him just got a thirteen-year-old brat from Chicago who will be starting to train with them! Training children to be soldiers for them! What is next?!" screamed an angry woman, who was holding a sign with Warren Worthington III's face on it crossed out, words like "monster," "mutie," "freak," and "roach" written on it like graffiti.

"And what about that Hank McCoy monster? Doesn't he volunteer at a hospital for the blind?" shouted another follower. "A freak like that shouldn't even be touching people! What the fuck? Is this a joke? What has it come to in this country? How about protecting actual human rights, and not the rights of those frigging cockroaches?"

"I understand where all of your anger is coming from. Those freaks put my brother into prison," said Alyssa Risman eloquently. "But I honestly feel that our next plan should be taken to the next level. Think of who is encouraging the freaks to go out and vote for their rights. Lilandra Neramani. She could be a mutant, for all we know! That's the last thing that we need: a mutant for a president."

Cruel laughter roared throughout the room, various people throwing food at a campaign poster of the Libertarian nominee, flipping the bird and screaming in anger. Alyssa Risman and Graydon Creed just smiled coldly at the sight. Their plan was more effective than they ever thought it could be: gather up people angry enough at mutants, and have them make up the classic excuse that someone made them do it. It worked with groups like the KKK and Westboro Baptist. Why couldn't it work for anti-mutant groups such as the Friends of Humanity? For Alyssa and Creed, it was almost too good to be true.

Up next: Chauvinism Part 1