X-MEN #17

LAND OF THE FREE,MUTANTS OF THE BRAVE PART 3

By: Bodhi Ouellette

Savage Land:

And with that, what became a peaceful open spaced area quickly became a war zone. X-Men and Brotherhood members charged at each other. From Rogue knocking down mutants flat on their ass, Karma & Psylocke taking over the minds of other children and attacking the Brotherhood, Iceman freezing Brotherhood members, Punch after cut after burn after broken bones, it was getting pretty ugly, pretty quickly. And something needed to happen before the first casualty from both sides.
Shadowcat looked up to see where Xavier and the others were. She finds them floating above the whole fight.
Shadowcat: Professor!
Professor X: Kitty!
Wolverine: Get us out of here!
Shadowcat: How?!
Wolverine: I don't know, that's for you to figure out!
Shadowcat: Gee! (a brotherhood mutant thows a punch at Shadowcat, but she just phases the punch and knocks him down) Thanks for the support!
Wolverine: No problem, kitty cat!
Shadowcat: (whispering) Gonna ignore that he said that to me. Rogue! Angel! Forge! Sage! With me!
All four that were called by Shadowcat all make their way to her, punching a few more Brotherhood mutants out of the way.
Shadowcat: Alright, this is what I need you to do; Rogue, Angel, you're gonna fly up to where Xavier and the others are, with Forge and Sage to break them out. We'll distract Magneto, you guys (looks to Rogue and Angel) keep Forge and Sage safe from harm.
Rogue: Got it, sugar!
The two do exactly what they were told; they fly Forge and Sage up to where the captive X-Men are and begin breaking the cuffs on them.
Shadowcat is running back into the battlefield, when suddenly, Magneto lands right in front of her. Before she could do anything, Magneto grabs her by the neck and holds her up off the ground.
Magneto: Foolish! You think you can defeat my Brotherhood? I have hundreds by my side. We outmatch you by two thirds of what you have. I don't believe you have a chance at defeating me at all. I never expected the X-Men would fall this day. You're plans, if any, have failed.
Shadowcat: *choking, while trying to udder out words*
Magneto: What's that, my child?
Shadowcat: The plan... was never to attack you... the plan, really... was to distract you!
Magneto: What are you-
Professor X: (offscreen) Erik!
Magneto looks up to see Professor X, Storm, Wolverine, Havok, Beast, Rogue, Angel, Forge and Sage descending down to the ground. While Magneto was distracted, Shadowcat phased through Magneto's grip of her.
Professor X: Stop this now!
Magneto: Never!
Beast and Angel quickly strike down to Magneto and knock him down. Shadowcat attempts to remove the helmet from Magneto but he quickly gets back up and knocks Shadowcat back against a wall. Forge blasts Magneto with his gun which incapacitates him.
Professor X: We should end this pointless fight and get off this island, now!
Xavier and the others begin to run out of the forest.
Professor X: (VO) X-Men! Retreat!
All the other X-Men stop what they're doing and follow the orders of their Professor. The Brotherhood begin to chase the X-Men down, until a dazed Magneto gets back up and encounters the Brotherhood.
Magneto: Stand down. Let them escape. But I have one last word for them.

All the X-Men make their way out of the forest and onto the beachy shore where they all quickly get into the X-Jet. One by one they all get inside. Xavier, Wolverine and Shadowcat are the last to get in, however, before they could get in, Magneto comes out from the forest.
Magneto: You think this battle is over?! The battle won't be over until you are all dead! I will build my army, into the hundreds of thousands, Charles! I won't stop until every mutant on Earth follows me into a new world ruled by mutants! We are on the rise again! And you better do the same...
After a moment, the three get inside the X-Jet and it begins to fly off.
Magneto: (Smiles) The war begins...

Jean Grey School for Higher Learning:

The X-Jet lands in the back lawn of the school. Students of the school wait anxiously for them to return. The hatch opened and out came Xavier and the others.
Pixie: Professor Xavier! You're ok!
Professor X: I am. But now I need you all to listen up. Magneto has called war on us! He has a hundred mutants with him, and those numbers will continue to grow and grow unless we do something about it! I'm afraid to say this, and it's something I thought we'd never have to face. Students... we're going to war. As of right now, the objective has changed. You will be trained to be fighters, warriors, and peacemakers. You are all going to do what it takes to be an X-Man! We start tomorrow...
Xavier left the entire group of students in silence. This wasn't what they already thought they were doing in the first place at the school. No... this was real. This was real from the worlds of Professor Charles Xavier. And he means everything he says.

Later on in the day, Xavier is alone in his office, wondering about what he needs to do in order to compete with Magneto and his Brotherhood. What was to be done? What did he need to do? What was he gonna do? A knock on the door was heard.
Professor X: Come in.
In the room comes a bunch of mutants; Logan, Kitty, Iceman, Beast, Rogue, Alex, and Ororo. What they were called in for was unknown to all of them.
Beast: You wanted to see us, Charles?
Professor X: I did. What Magneto said... about his army, growing and growing... I know that our students aren't enough. What we need to do is go above and beyond.
Logan: You're point?
Professor X: We need to get bigger. We need to go global. I called you all today, because all of you will be leaders. You will lead bases in continents around the world to recruit, and train mutants that will follow our cause. And we need a new center hub. Utopia will be the perfect place for us to set a new home for us.
Storm: We're going back to our old home?
Professor X: Not just that. We combine this and Utopia in one place. A place that has no center place on the map.
Logan: (Curious) What are you saying, Chuck?
Professor X smiles.

"We're going into the sky."

To be continued in X-Men Issue 18
The X-Men are reinventing themselves! New objective! New homes! And new mutants will join the ranks of the students! As of now, the X-Men has entered war with Magneto!