Bright New Mourning

• Penciler - Salvador Larroca
• Inker - Danny Miki
• Colorist - Udon Studios
• Lettering - Virtual Calligraphy
• Lettering - Rus Wooton
• Associated Editor - Cory Sedlmeier
• Associated Editor - Stephannie Moore
• Editor - Mike Marts
• Editor in Chief - Joe Quesada
• Writer - Chuck Austen

Summary

  Emma can't get through to Scott; the remaining Cuckoos offer to try to calm the crowd, and Emma congratulates them on coming back to her; Celeste insists they still completely disapprove of her, but this is about survival. Mindee is too upset even to be near her, though it may be just an excuse to cuddle with Germaine, who has no real interest in her other than that she's pretty. Emma says none of them understood but Esme: whatever it takes to win. She looks down at the mob and wishes she could contact Scott.

  Scott finds Hank in the debris and wakes him; he asks why Scott blasted the roof (last iss.) when he was nearly done disconnecting the robot's power; Scott says he had to, and it worked, but Hank says he might have killed them and has never been so foolishly impulsive. He admits he's angry at Scott for betraying Jean: marriage implies commitment. He doesn't like Scott right now.

  Salem Center police try to hold back the mob, but they're panicked about mutants ("With their mutant powers! Weapons, all of them! Weapons to use against us!") and rush through them and into the X-Corp building. Fortunately for Emma, the Cuckoos have contacted Scott, and he's outside with Hank, who scales the burning building, bursts through the window, and jumps back down with two of the children. He sends them to Scott in the jeep and goes back for more; Scott holds back the mob by calmly blasting them back. ("They're not lasers, they're force beams.") So a rioter shoots him; Emma is horrified.

  The mob starts breaking down the door, and Germaine uses his mutant fire power to scare them back, but sets fire to the room. Emma decides this is enough, removes her fur coat and turns to diamond form. One of the rioters hits Germaine in the head with a baseball bat; Emma threatens to fry their skulls when her head clears. They grab her, tossing her out the window, while others beat Germaine. Scott catches her, but she rushes right back in to rescue the boy, but he's dead, and one of the rioters is shocked, but another is happy. They try to get out of the burning building but are forced to the window and call for help. Emma enters, grabs them by the shirts, and holds them out the window; they beg her not to drop them, and Hank tells her she wants to hand them to him. She hesitates but then agrees.

  Emma emerges from the building with Germaine's body, to Mindee's dismay. Emma confronts Scott, saying she's staying at Xavier's because these children need a safe place. If he feels differently, he should tell it to Germaine.

  Days later, the X-Men walk back from Jean's grave but Scott stays. He tells her they've rebuilt, despite the danger. He's not sure if he's wronged her, or if she even cared. He apologizes and says he loved her, but now it's time to start over. As he walks away, the Phoenix effect appears over the headstone.

  Note: you're not imagining it. What happened to Nova, Scott and Hank in the mansion's basement is not explained.