Heroes and Villains

• Writer - Chuck Austen
• Penciler - Salvador Larroca
• Inker - Danny Miki
• Lettering - Virtual Calligraphy
• Lettering - Chris Eliopoulos
• Colorist - Liquid!
• Ass't Editor - Stephannie Moore
• Ass't Editor - Sean Ryan
• Editor - Mike Marts
• Editor in Chief - Joe Quesada

conclusion: Full Circle

Summary

  Mammomax shakes Avalanche, trying to snap him out of Mindee's control, insisting they can't let a girl beat them. Remy realizes Mindee lied and they're not safe: they're pinned against a wall while Exodus takes pot shots at them; Mindee's placing false images in his mind. She wonders if this is what it's like to lose, but just then Icarus swoops down and grabs them. He apologizes for brushing Remy into tree branches: he's not used to rescuing. Mindee tells him to fly around the school, so she can try to grab Black Tom's mind.

  Tom has Rogue entangled in the cafeteria; he says she should stop struggling and enjoy her death. Suddenly, the school's chef whacks off his wooden head with a frying pan, but that doesn't stop him: he is in all the plant life around, and he wraps her in tendrils.

  The other X-Men find Creed, bruised from Jean-Paul's beating (last iss.), but still growling threats. Lorna laughs at him, saying he's never been a threat; Logan waves the others off, saying it's long past time they finished things. Creed says there's no point: even if they wind up as lumps of flesh on the ground, it still wouldn't end. Logan's fine with that, as long as their lumps don't get mixed.

  Avalanche wakes, and Mammomax tells him they lost, and he wants him to start killing things before a four-year-old girl knocks him out again. Avalanche, angry, insists he's one of the toughest villains on earth; suddenly, Jean-Paul rushes by and knocks him out with one blow. Mammomax didn't even see what happened; Exodus flies over and orders a retreat. Mammomax is angry that the team is so amateur, just "street thugs in spandex," but Exodus says they have to rally because they X-Men are closing in.

  But the X-Men are already there, and they attack. Alex tells Jean-Paul to make sure the children are all safe, especially Annie and Carter. Cain, focused on getting to Tom, bashes Mammomax, gets covered with his stomach acid, grabs him by the trunk, tosses him, and demands to know where Tom is.

  Rogue tells Tom to let the chef go, but he kills her, disparages her hygiene, and bets Rogue didn't even know her name. Jean-Paul rushes in, attacks, and says her name was Marilyn, after the actress. He pummels Tom to splinters while explaining: her mother always thought she was beautiful, even when she grew extra arms, and when she died, Xavier took Marilyn in to a new home. Jean-Paul asks why Tom can't understand that and leave them alone; Tom's shattered mouth says he just got up on the wrong side of bed, and though the story was sentimental, he was busy killing everyone. He's wrapped nearly everyone on the grounds in vines, and Alex isn't sure what to do next. Mindee can't control his mind because it's not centralized, so Nocturne uses her power to merge with him, possessing him. She warns he's in every plant, and she can't control him long; Exodus orders Avalanche to kill them both while Tom is weak, but he's loyal to his teammate. Xorn has Lorna get the X-Men to safety; he's planning to unleash the black hole in his head and suck the Brotherhood into it, and he senses this is a turning point for all of them (note: this is writer Chuck Austen's last iss.). Cain says they don't know where that black hole goes to, and it won't guarantee their safety, so Mindee starts to wipe the Brotherhood's minds so they can't come back; Nocturne will be sucked in too, but she says she knew danger was part of the deal. Cain decides to go with them, to help Nocturne on the other side, if they survive, and if not, maybe he'll see Sammy again and show him he's a hero, too.

  Xorn removes his helmet, and the villains are sucked in; Mindee senses no mental residue; Xorn needs some time alone to meditate on his actions and quits the team; Bobby wonders if they're dead.

  Alex knows Annie has left and isn't coming back; Jean-Paul asks what he's going to do about it; Alex, in stoic Summers fashion, says he's going to check on Logan. They find him in the clearing, alive. He has diced Creed to bits, and all that's left are a few teeth.

  Annie drives away; Carter, in the back seat, has a new invisible friend whose eyes glow, and Carter is suddenly sinister.

  Note: the final Wolverine-Sabretooth battle takes place off panel? Victor Creed no more? Don't worry, I'm sure Sinister can clone him.