In times where the nation is divided on the mutant issue, the X-men of X-Corporation must fight for peace and harmony among humans and mutants. Given what they've experienced over the past year, the X-men are determined to make sure that things do not get any worse.

Two weeks prior, the X-men had to stop a riot in Chicago provoked by the Friends of Humanity, an anti-mutant hate group determined to avenge the arrest of Matthew Risman – the brother of one of the FOH members Alyssa Risman. However, during that riot, Tony Stark's health issues from heavy drinking hit him when he had a panic attack, which was thought to be a heart attack. Now, Tony must be on a strict detox program underneath the supervision of Doctor Moira MacTaggart, who has left Muir Island to temporarily place herself in X-Corporation.

Issue 48: Chauvinism Part 1

X-Corporation Tower – Danger Room

"C'mon everyone, all of you runts, pick up the pace!" Logan hollered as he watched the X-men go through another Danger Room session, the second one of the day.

The two weeks following Tony's health issues being exposed and Kitty Pryde's recruitment to the X-men seemed to be going by slower and slower. Kitty's recruitment meant getting her fitted into an X-man uniform and placing her in the local Marsden Regional Middle School, where she could be close enough to where Bobby went to school. However, Moira MacTaggart placed herself in X-Corporation Tower to make sure he stuck to his detox and sobered up.

"Why does he say "runts"?" Kitty asked as she ran through the obstacle course.

"I don't know why," Jean said, putting up telekinetic shielding around her to protect herself from incoming paintballs.

"Again, I never understand vhy you have machines vith paintballs," said Kurt, teleporting up high onto the ceiling.

"Rule number one of being out in the field: be prepared for the worst to happen," said Scott, firing an optic blast at a century gun.

"Amen to that, sugah," Rogue said, borrowing some of Bobby's powers to freeze a nearby tentacle.

"Anna-Marie, a little head's up next time would be nice!" Bobby said.

"Sorry, sugah," Rogue apologized.

Ororo and Hank were currently holding their own in the session, as well as Cecilia. Looking up at the clock, Kitty could see that they only had two more minutes left on the clock to complete the objective of the session: fighting members of the newest anti-mutant hate group, the Friends of Humanity. The cannons, tentacles and paintballs were just added by Logan for extra measures. She was luckily a fast learner and somehow, she'd managed to earn a spot in Logan's heart like Scott, Jean and Rogue had.

"Two minutes left, everyone," Ororo said as Kitty phased her way through several bullets that were being shot at her. After the incident that happened at the New Salem Mall in Chicago those weeks ago, she was determined to not let her guard down again. For a thirteen-year-old girl, Kitty was already impressing Logan with her toughness and her determination, considering she had a father who was a colonel in the army.

"Keep phasing Kitty," Warren said, taking out the tentacles.

"A minute and thirty seconds left!" announced Jean.

"Iceman, finish this!" Hank called out.

"On it, Beast!" Bobby said, flying in and freezing all of the Friends of Humanity guards.

"End simulation!" Logan shouted to Forge. "Alright, good work, kids. Now, go, scram!"

"You're not even going to make a comment about what we did wrong?" asked Jean, smiling.

"Do you want me to?" Logan asked his surrogate "daughter" in a serious tone, putting his famous glare on his face.

"No; okay, guys, we've got the rest of the day off, let's go!" Warren said. "That's our cue!"

The X-men all left the Danger Room, retiring to their rooms for the rest of the day. For Scott and Jean, they went off to Jean's bedroom. The two said that they weren't having sex. Bobby and Warren were not convinced of that, though. Jean sometimes came out of Scott's bedroom in the morning wearing his shirt on more than one occasion like Candy once did with Warren after their many passionate nights. In fact, Warren got a kick out of seeing their faces go red when he would make assumptions about their sex lives.

Jean collapsed onto Scott's bed, pealing her X-man uniform off of her body and pulling on a pair of velour sweats and one of Scott's Breaking Benjamin t-shirts, lying flat on her back after Scott changed into sweats and a plain shirt. He leaned down, kissing her lips lovingly.

"Mmm . . . I like this," Jean whispered against his lips, kissing him back as he straddled over her, cradling her face in his hands gently. She smiled tenderly at him, her green eyes filled with love and adoration for her boyfriend.

"Me too; we need more moments like this," Scott agreed.

"I think we get plenty," Jean said. She stroked Scott's cheek as she kissed him again. She pulled him closer on top of her, hugging him against her and burrowing her face into his neck. "But I am worried about Tony right now. Do you have an idea on how he's doing right now with Dr. MacTaggart's detox that she's putting him on? He doesn't let any of us see him at all."

"I honestly do not know. All I know is that this detox is tough on him," said Scott, stroking Jean's face. "But you know he hates showing vulnerability; he hates feeling weak."

Jean let out a sigh, closing her eyes as she allowed Scott to kiss her again. "He's allowed to have us worry and care for him. If I didn't care, I wouldn't want to see how he's doing. I know he doesn't want our pity. He needs to realize that we've got a right to worry and have sympathy and empathy for what he is going through."

"Do not worry too much. And besides, we should be looking on a more positive side to this whole shitty situation. We've got Kitty on the team now, we've got a politician from the Conservative Libertarian party on our side; we're together now," Scott told her.

"I know, Slim, I know; I always try to look on the positive and be optimistic, but these past few weeks have been madness. I mean, who would have thought that we getting kidnapped by a crazy mad scientist would force us to admit how we feel about each other?"

"Well, hopefully we do not have to deal with Sinister again; I swear to God, if I have got to look at his face . . ." Scott had a glare on his face as he said those words.

"Hey, easy," Jean said. "Besides, we need some stress relief; you want to watch Zero Dark Thirty?"

"Yes." Scott got off her body and got up to plug the movie into the Blu-Ray player. Turning up the volume on the TV, he and Jean proceeded to watch the film together, resting comfortable in each other's arms as Scott kissed the top of her head.

Convalescence Room

For what felt like the umpteenth time in those two weeks of detoxing, Tony could feel the nausea and dizziness coming over him and the bile starting to rise in his throat.

The two weeks of being on Moira MacTaggart's detox program have been hell for the young man. In addition to the nausea, vomiting and dizziness, he was experiencing hallucinations and anxiety over the fact that he could not even have a sip of tequila to calm himself down. He was confined to the convalescence room of X-Corporation Tower with Moira and Pepper watching him twenty-four-seven with Cecilia Reyes' assistance. He felt like he was being babysat, and he hated that more than anything.

'I hate my life,' he thought as he threw up in a wastebasket nearby. He could feel he was starting to black out as Moira came behind him.

"This is the only way, Tony," she said to him, sympathy in her voice as she placed a hand onto his shoulder.

Tony spat into the trashcan, panting heavily as he started to sweat. "I hate this . . . kill me now," he groaned between heaving breaths.

"Not happening, lad," Moira said. "It gets worse before it gets better, unfortunately."

"That's not very encouraging," Tony groaned out.

"I'm sorry, Tony, but this is the way to do it. Ye are not allowed any alcohol this whole time; ye need to get clean. Ye are long overdue for something like this especially considering what Cecilia had told me about the condition of your health," said Moira.

"No, Dr. MacTaggart; I don't deserve your sympathy or your pity. You should not even be bothering with me. Besides, don't you have your son to worry about?"

"I do worry about David; I know he's in good hands now with Sean and Rahne. He will be fine. And Charles is with him on a visit as we speak."

"I just do not want you wasting your time with me, a thirty-six-year-old alcoholic who did this to himself, rather than your son, a mutant with out of control psionic powers who needs to be sedated twenty-four-seven," Tony told her.

"Ye are worth it. Ye are allowed to have people care and worry about ye, ye know," Moira said quietly as she got Tony back into his bed, hooking him up to an IV to re-hydrate him and get him as comfortable as possible. As the sweat continued down his face, Tony felt his nausea happening again as Moira placed a cold, damp cloth on his forehead. Slamming his eyes shut against the bright lights of the infirmary, Tony willed for sleep to come.

Muir Island Research Facility – Psychic Wing

"How is he doing?" asked Charles Xavier as he rolled through the psychic wing of Muir Island Research Facility with Sean Cassidy, the fiancé of his ex-wife, at his side.

"The same," Sean said in his thick, Irish accent. "And it's unfortunate. We might need ye here more often for some psychic interventions on David."

"He's my son, Sean; not a patient to me," Charles insisted. "I do not want David to think that I am just here to control him."

"I know that, Charles, but I'm becoming concerned about David's condition; he's only going to get all the more powerful as he gets older. His mental health issues only add fuel to the fire, unfortunately," Sean said as they approached Charles and Moira's son, David's, room.

"Can you please keep me up to date with anything that is going on in the U.S?" Charles asked. "Because I am aware that Lilandra Neramani, the Libertarian presidential nominee, is having a campaign rally this evening that will be broadcasted on the news; there's always a chance for something to go wrong," he added.

"Charles, I do not know why ye concern yourself with American politics. Maybe ye should find something else to watch beside the news. Something less destructive, like slasher movies," said Sean.

Charles lightly chuckled. "Sean you know as well as I that I cannot; it wouldn't be like me to not keep up to date with all of this," he said as they got closer to David's bedroom.

"I'll give ye both some privacy," Sean said with a smile.

Charles nodded, opening the door to his son's bedroom to find David playing a game of cards with Rahne.

"Hi, Professor," Rahne said with a smile, getting up to leave Charles alone with his son, not before pressing a kiss against his cheek.

"Hi, Dad," David said softly.

"Hi, son, how are you holding up?" Charles asked, sitting across from his child. His son had just turned twenty-four; the young man was close to his mid-twenties, and he couldn't even leave the facility because his powers made him a danger to everyone around him.

"Slightly better," David said. "Though I can still hear all of them in me head," he added, referring to the forty-five personalities living inside his head.

"You've got multiple personality disorder on top of psychic abilities; it's just harder for you to manage, my son," Charles said.

"I want nothing more than to learn to manage it, Dad, but that's near impossible," David said. Suddenly, that was when Charles could see the walls around them starting to warp.

"David, relax your mind," Charles whispered.

David took a deep breath, trying to organize his thoughts together. He oftentimes couldn't sleep at night and had to be sedated with so many sedatives, they were equivalent to an elephant tranquilizer. It got to a point where David was becoming immune to most sedatives. Charles in many ways felt guilty for feeling as though he was not doing enough to help his child.

"Dad; you're doing everything that ye possibly can," David said as he continued to struggle with organizing his mind. He clenched his jaw in pain as he felt the surge of his psychic powers. His powers caused intense headaches very often.

"Am I?" Charles asked his son as he watched his child struggle for control.

"Yes, ye are . . . all of this is out of your control, and mine, and Mum's," David said.

"We've been trying to research ways to help you for years; believe me when I say that, son," Charles whispered.

"I do," David groaned out, rubbing his head.

"Do you need any help with –?"

David nodded, clenching his eyes shut as the stabbing pain in his head got worse. Charles proceeded to enter his son's mind, trying to help David find his shields to help him gain some control. Finally, after five minutes, David seemed to relax.

"So, how are things going back in the states?" he asked his father. "I know about how things are going with that company of yours. I take it that it's starting to become fairly successful?"

"They've been going well. I've told you about the two mutants I've adopted, Scott Summers and Jean Grey; I guess you could say that they're your adoptive brother and sister," Charles said. "There's plenty more to tell."

"I'm all ears, Dad," David said, leaning back in his seat.

NYU

Life for Lilandra Neramani as the Conservative Libertarian presidential nominee meant needing to deal with animosity from extremists who were against her pro-mutant campaign. However, the ugliness was a lot for the woman to take in.

Being a successful business woman and an owner of two companies, Lilandra had been born into the business world and groomed to become the successful owner of Chandilar Industries and Aerie Law Firms from the time she was a baby. Both her parents would take her with them to work and make her observe everything. This, in combination with her high intelligence, made Lilandra the perfect person to take over her family's company.

Now, with that evening being one of her last campaign rallies, Lilandra knew that she had to keep the crowd on her side, because as long as she had the support of mutants and other minorities, that she would end up winning. But, she also knew she was neck in neck with Senator Edward Kelly, who had his own share of followers who were filled with hatred for mutants. Being a person who had over a hundred mutants employed at both her companies, Lilandra understood how important it was for her to keep fighting. She looked around at what was going on in the United States with mutants who were struggling with finding jobs, mutants who were not allowed health insurance; mutants who were forced to be discharged dishonorably if their mutations were discovered by the military. For Lilandra to see this kind of injustice towards people, it sickened her deeply.

Preparing herself before her campaign rally, she proceeded to speak with her vice president, Evangeline Whedon, a mutant with ability of shape-shifting into a dragon-like creature. Evangeline was another unfortunate mutant who had lost her job due to her mutation. She had once been an attorney, but, after her mutation had been exposed, Evangeline was disbarred. That was when Lilandra approached her about employing her and giving her a different opportunity until she could afford to open up her own law firm and get her license back to practice law.

"Evangeline, are you ready for this?" asked Lilandra to her VP.

"More than ready," Evangeline said with a nod. "This is one of our last chances to make sure that you get the votes. I mean, mutants love you; humans who ally themselves with mutants love you. But, we're also dealing a rise in even more anti-mutant sentiment. I mean, look at what had happened two weeks ago during the debate: an anti-mutant riot at a shopping mall in Chicago."

Lilandra nodded. She knew that her vice president was right. "Yes, you're right, Evangeline; well, we'll be starting soon. All we can do is our best, even though we know tonight, we're going to get protesters. I can guarantee that," she said.

"Yes, I know that you know," Evangeline said softly.

While Lilandra and Evangeline prepared themselves for the rally, in the gathering crowd sat FOH founder Graydon Creed with his followers, all wearing trenches to disguise their selves. The weather being colder outside than usual for a September night, it didn't make them look even the least bit suspicious to the crowd surrounding them.

'We are another step closer to making our message heard about the mutie freaks,' Creed thought to himself as he sat there, his eyes shrouded by dark sunglasses. The riot at that mall in Chicago was just one small thing. Attacking the presidential nominee by rioting at her event was another step towards what he wanted to accomplish with the Friends of Humanity.

Creed allowed a bitter smile to creep onto his face as the rest of his followers waiting outside. He knew there was no chance he would be allowed to have his gun in there given the metal detectors, but, his other followers outside had them. He didn't care if he had to use violence to make himself be heard; he was going to do whatever he felt was necessary, not caring who got hurt in the process.

Up next: Chauvinism Part 2