Resurrections & Reunions

• Writer - Chris Claremont
• Penciler - Tom Raney
• Inker - Scott Hanna
• Colorist - Gina Going
• Lettering - Virtual Calligraphy
• Lettering - Rus Wooton
• Ass't Editor - Sean Ryan
• Associated Editor - Nick Lowe
• Editor - Mike Marts
• Editor in Chief - Joe Quesada

Summary

  On the X-jet on the way home, Rachel can't get used to the seats. Ororo notes Rachel became a dinosaur and she nearly destroyed the world: "visiting the Savage Land is never dull." They hope the Hauk'ka really will be allies, and X-23 continues mimicking Betsy, trying to learn to be a woman.

  In the hangar at the mansion, Betsy marvels at the changes since she was last there: the mansion rebuilt, the X-Men public. It's oddly threatening to her.

  Ororo moved her team into the carriage house; she now lives in the hayloft, decorated in a nature-loving way including a waterfall. She takes a few moments to fly and plunge into the pool, to refresh herself.

  Lucas continues up the tower to see Sage, but it's really a hologram, an interface to the computer network. Lucas has it match Tessa's current Hellfire Club costume; he thinks that choice was a wrong one for her and for Sunspot. The network fills him in on recent events: Logan suborned by the Hand and trying to assassinate the president (Wolverine III:25); a global order was issued for him to be shot on sight.

  Rachel shares the turret room with Kitty; she rushes in with presents from the Savage Land only to see Piotr with her, and she realizes she's interrupting. She introduces X-23 to Piotr, who used to be dead; they joke "that trick never works." Upset, she apologizes for intruding but then complains that Piotr is back but her mother is still dead. Kitty, angered, takes Piotr and phases through the floor, leaving X-23 to try to comfort Rachel. She barely knows Jean Grey and has always felt more like family with Kitty, but with Piotr back, she feels she'll lose her, which she admits it stupid.

  Betsy also lost her mother young and sympathizes. She looks at the large Phoenix monument in the courtyard and complains there's not one for her. Kurt explains there's a memorial garden around back and gives her a holographic projection of the grounds, so she can find her way. Betsy continues to complain, saying Xavier's is like a prison or a monastery; Kurt balances atop the Phoenix memorial, saying they need to keep separate from society: someday they'll be seen not as mutants but just as people, but for now they can't put innocents at risk.

  Emma enters, smirking; she and Betsy exchange air kisses while thinking badly of each other. Scott's there, too, and Betsy makes snide remarks about Emma's new position at Xavier's, and Kitty appreciates the insults. Piotr's with her, and they hear thunder: Ororo swoops down from the skies, overjoyed to see Piotr alive. They hug. Kitty asks Betsy for help with Rachel, but she's still getting reoriented herself. She wonders aloud to Emma what'll happen when you-know-who is resurrected and reclaims her husband; she rushes off for her medical exam, and Emma suggests next time she stay dead.

  Betsy didn't realize it'd be hard to see Hank; they both hesitate and then hug warmly. He does a full exam to confirm she's really her; since she was autopsied, it's an extreme case even for the X-Men. She reminds him that's what their team was. Hank notes he already knew it was her, by his senses: scent, touch, taste, and he licks her playfully. She wonders if he used the same technique on Piotr, and he slaps her bottom (!).

  He gets serious, apologizing for letting her die (X-Treme X-Men 2); she knows he nearly died, too. They plan vengeance on Vargas and then decide to get a bite to eat. Jamie Braddock appears behind them, observing.

  The team wanted some down time, but instead Logan attacked the mansion, killing Jean-Paul (Wolverine III:25), and then they had to face the Phoenix (Phoenix: Endsong LS), and Jean is now dead "for good." Now Ororo is letting Kurt and Lucas run the team while she tends her garden; Lucas cooks dinner each night while monitoring the situation with Logan, which is now resolved (Wolverine III:26). Life, in all its messy glory, goes on.

  In the cafeteria, Betsy tells Rachel she can't hold a grudge against Kitty forever; Rachel notes she's been to the end of time (Cable 85) and knows about forever. Betsy chides her, saying life is short and whining is unattractive. They laugh, but then Rachel worries about her mother; if she's really dead and cut off from the Phoenix force, where does that leave Rachel? Betsy says she's alive, for starters; she sees Jamie outside the window and then rushes off to a Danger Room session with Kurt monitoring.

  She battles robots and thinks about recent events. The team was exhausted after the Savage Land, which is why they were ineffective against Logan. She's been seeing flashes of her brother, who has the power to manipulate reality; she worries he's pulling her strings. She tells Kurt to kick it up, to confront her fears head-on. A holographic Sabretooth attacks her; she defeated him once, and as payback he gutted her (UXM 213, 328). Her telepathic powers were wasted on him, but now she's a TK, and she tosses him off a cliff.

  After the villain who nearly killed her: Vargas, the one who did. As they spar, Kurt sees a spike in quantum emissions on the monitors. He freezes the session as a wormhole opens, disgorging Spiral and Cain. Nocturne emerges from Spiral, explaining quickly before Betsy attacks that she possessed Spiral and made her bring them here (cf. X-Men II:164). Kurt bamfs down, happy to see his daughter from an alternate reality. Cain promises Betsy that he's reformed, and she powers down her psi-knife. Turns out the Brotherhood sold them to Mojo; Kurt bamfs away to gather the team, not willing to take chances with Spiral, though she's unconscious after having been possessed.

  Nocturne admits it's odd that she and Kurt act like family, but he's just like her dad in the ways that matter. Betsy asks about her mother; she says she was the Scarlet Witch (Exiles 4), which surprises Betsy. Kurt returns with the rest of the team, but Spiral has already stopped playing possum and teleported Mojo in, as they planned.