X-Men #171

Publisher
Marvel
Year
2005
Month
8
LastChanged
2/3/2024 8:23:02 AM
Bizarre Love Triangle

Dangerous Liaisons
Summary

  Hunters chase a girl through the woods at night; to their astonishment, she snaps the necks of their Dobermans, evades their bullets, and gets away, hopping the fence into Xavier's, the one place she'll be safe.

  Next day, Emma and Alex discuss: she's a little wild for Alex, but Emma says she's a mutant, so they need to help her. She wants to assign her to Remy's class; Alex prefers Bobby's, not wanting to disrupt Remy and Rogue any further, and the new girl, Foxx, would be a temptation. Emma thinks he'd rather she break up Bobby and Lorna, and she asks if Foxx is really all that. Alex looks at her photo and smirks.

  Remy trains his class and berates them for being without "élan"; Emma interrupts to introduce Foxx, who sees Remy and immediately asks for one-on-one sessions, but Remy says his class works as a unit, and he walks away. Foxx wonders if Remy is always that mean; her classmate asks if she's always that obvious; Emma looks on impassively.

  Remy and Rogue relax by a creek; he wants to touch her, and they kiss, hoping this time will be different. She remembers when they met, on the basketball court, love at first sight. His face begins to crack, as her power drains him. She remembers him driving her on his bike. He withers and dies, as she frantically apologizes.

  Bobby says it's nothing but a burnt-out husk: his steak that is, in the cafeteria. It reminds Lorna of when Alex tried to cook Thanksgiving with his plasma blasts; Bobby asks her about it, but she realizes she shouldn't talk about her prior relationship, assures him he shouldn't be jealous, and kisses him. Rogue, next in line, blasts them both with fire, telling them to stop slobbering. Bobby, on the ground, notes she could have killed them and is surprised she has fire-powers (though he was there when she got them, Rogue '04 #12).

  Lorna tries to talk to her, but she rushes away, and when Foxx sees her and tries to say how much she admires her, she tells her to leave her alone. Onyxx tells Foxx the X-Men don't usually mix with the students, but he's like to; she tells him to take his hand off her or she'll leave it a stump.

  Alex sits with Bobby and Lorna and asks her about what she said while fighting Golgotha, "He looked right at me." She doesn't remember, and Bobby tells him to back off; when they begin to argue, Lorna uses her power to blast them both, then apologizes, but asks Alex to leave. Bobby asks her again about that turkey; she says it was inedible; he says that makes him feel good.

  Emma slowly wakes Remy; she's put him into a coma to help him heal quicker. Rogue asks how dangerous last night might have been, and Emma admits she doesn't know. Remy isn't happy being a guinea pig, but Emma notes he was willing. He says she promised them a telepathic solution to their problem, and she's failed; she says no, one of them did, unable to escape reality even in telepathic form. She offers them more telepathic therapy, but Remy's just died that way and wants no more. He leaves; Emma tells Rogue he'll get over it, probably.

  The Danger Room isn't what it was; Remy trains his team, but has to do so carefully, now. He does take out some of his frustrations on them, and when he spars with Foxx, it's the first time the room seems dangerous to him. He ends the session and reminds them it's oral exams tomorrow. He knows he needs to be careful.

  Logan eats with Rogue and warns her Remy's been particularly violent; he asks about the rumors of Emma helping them, and how she feels about Remy wrestling around with "a little sex doll." She's sure Remy would never be unfaithful (see Gambit '04 #5, for a recent counter-example).

  Foxx welcomes herself into Remy's shower; she knows he wants her, but he says he loves Rogue. She says he has needs Rogue can't satisfy, and nobody would need to know, and his libido is diminishing every day. He makes her leave but then douses himself with cold water.