Encounter

Generation Next

The Phalanx Convent

Summary

  M is being chauffeured along a rainy road in Monaco. Cord-Becker, her bodyguard, complains that she has refused to talk for three months, since the trouble with her brother and the twins; she wants to send her to Xavier's school, but her father doesn't want to admit she needs help. Suddenly the highly armored limo is wrecked by the Phalanx. Cord-Becker throws M out the door and pulls gun. The Phalanx absorbs the limo, chauffer, and Cord-Becker. It is unable to analyze M due to psionic interference; the Phalanx hypothesizes she is the most powerful of the next generation of mutants, so it plans to kill her. For now it takes her captive.

  Xavier has put Frost back into her own body (see iss. 314), and she is restrained and raving in the med lab. Sean tries to help, but *Storm shows him the door, making him realize he has become an outsider. Scott and Jean call for Xavier; Sean directs them to Muir (see Wolverine 85). *Archangel shows up and tells him to let full-time X-Men handle communications.

  Sean sees that Jubilee is alone in the Danger Room, then notices *Psylocke leaving Xavier's Ready Room, which is supposed to be private. He goes in and finds *Gambit and *Bishop fiddling with Cerebro. He chats, letting drop that Xavier is walking, and they don't notice the lie, so he realizes they're either impostors or under mind-control. The computer tells him the only humans in the building are him, Frost, Jubilee, and Sabretooth. He tries to send for help, but *Beast has gutted the communications room, so he goes to release Sabretooth. When *Rogue tries to stop him, he screams at it, shredding it into T-O bits, and he realizes he's up against the Phalanx. *Rogue reassembles, and Sabretooth, still shackled, busts it to bits.

  Sean says he has the detonator for Sabretooth's muzzle and sends him to free Jubilee and Frost. The Phalanx are alerted, but they're busy downloading all of Xavier's data: they are unable to assimilate mutants and have the X-Men captive, as test subjects.

  Sean uses firearms to destroy *Gambit and *Bishop, and realizes the Phalanx were going after the child mutants Xavier has identified. Frost disrupts *Storm and *Iceman telepathically. Sean self-destructs the Ready Room, and the rest of the Phalanx with it. He rendezvous with Sabretooth, Frost, and Jubilee in the Morlock tunnels, and plans to rescue the children.