Bizarre Love Triangle

• Writer - Peter Milligan
• Penciler - Salvador Larroca
• Lettering - Virtual Calligraphy
• Lettering - Cory Petit
• Colorist - Liquid!
• Ass't Editor - Sean Ryan
• Associated Editor - Nick Lowe
• Editor - Mike Marts
• Editor in Chief - Joe Quesada

The Foxx in the Attic

Summary

  A thief breaks into a home at night, all the time wondering why he does this, and then wondering why the cell phone always rings at the wrong time. It's Mystique calling, worried that her SHIELD device may be breaking down; she's felt another mind trying to enter hers.

  The cell phone woke up the people in the house, one of whom has a baseball bat but doesn't think anyone could get past the security systems. The thief calmly cuts a painting out of its frame while talking to Mystique, who wants a hypnotic booster over the phone, but that's impossible. She just has to hope the telepaths don't detect her before she's finished; fortunately, Logan's been out of town.

  Remy goes to Rogue to tell her he booted Foxx from his class but insists it wasn't because of her but because Foxx doesn't fit with his class. Rogue fixes her hair in the mirror, saying it'd be a shame if Foxx left the school.

  Emma's office: she and Alex bug Lorna again about what she remembers from space, but she doesn't want to talk. Emma plays the tape again, "It looked right at me" (iss. 170), but Lorna lashes out with her power and destroys the machine. She apologizes, offers to pay for it, and leaves. Alex asks if Emma can sneak into her mind, but she claims she only does that to bad people, and Lorna is just confused. Emma goes into Cerebra: lately there's been something out of kilter telepathically.

  Havok finds Lorna in her room in the dark; she wishes she never became an X-Man, and notes it's a ridiculous name because she's obviously a woman. She tells Alex not to bother her if he wants to convince her into a telepathic probe; he says he came to say he's sorry, and that he's realized he still loves her. She'd now rather discuss what she saw in space, but he says dumping her was the biggest mistake of his life (UXM 425). She: "You broke my heart." He: "Let me mend it." She: "I'm gonna throw up." She turns away from him, saying even if she felt the same way, it would kill Bobby, and Bobby would kill him. Emma breaks in telepathically, telling Alex to round up Bobby and Remy.

  Rogue finds Foxx on the grounds, saying Remy told her everything, but Foxx doubts it. Rogue says she came to offer her comfort; Foxx notes she also wanted to make sure she was leaving. Foxx says she only feels bad about making her miserable, but she had to do it. Rogue is confused, and then the X-Men arrive: Emma confronts Foxx, saying she's a shape shifter, before Remy can convince Rogue to go inside, she shows herself to be Mystique. Emma realizes Remy already knew; Rogue is outraged; Mystique makes a dash for it; Alex grabs her and gets punched in the chin. Remy tackles her and gets scratched in the face and told he doesn't deserve Rogue, so he punches her. Rogue sees they're going to kill each other and separates them with two blasts of fire.

  Mystique and Remy admire Rogue's power and aim; Emma tells Mystique to explain herself. She says she wanted to prove herself, and while she was at it to show her daughter what a loser she was with. She's been solo too long and wants a family; she wants to join the X-Men. Shocked looks all around.

  Remy's team eats in the cafeteria; the boys debate who would win in a fight: Remy or Alex, Logan or Hank.

  The X-Men put Mystique into a holding cell with a force field till they decide what to do; Emma tries but fails to read her mind. Lorna says they should hear her case; she wouldn't be the first villain to become an X-Man; Rogue just wants to throw her out. Emma says they'll vote tomorrow, with all the senior X-Men, and Alex points out she's been working with Xavier (see Mystique '03). Remy tries to reassure Rogue, but she never wants to talk to him again.

  In bed that night, Scott and Emma discuss it. Emma says her mind garbled and unreadable; Scott says it may be mental illness, like she's exhibited before, but Emma says it doesn't seem organic. Then she wonders what other couples talk about at two in the morning.

  Rogue goes to see Mystique alone; she says she's built a life here and asks why she's trying to spoil it. Mystique says she wants to be close to her, to make up for things. Rogue has had enough of her lies and turns off the force field, saying she'll beat the truth out of her. Mystique then says she came here to seduce Remy, first as Foxx and then as Rogue; Rogue asks if it worked, but Mystique says nothing.