X-Men (7th series) #7

Flashback:
The Summers family lodge, outside Merle, Alaska. The Iron Night, months ago:
Scott Summers sits on the porch, scowling and downing beer.

Floating in the air, Magneto, in his classic costume, acidly remarks he thought Cyclops always had a plan. Which step towards victory is this? The one where he tries to imagine just exactly what victory might look like, Scott shoots back. He’s forgotten. It’s been so long. Everything he’s worked for over the last couple of years… that he bled and died for - it’s gone! Even Jean’s gone. Out in space, where she needs to be. So, tell him, does he see any victories lying around? Because maybe he’s missed them. He’s got this thing with his eyes!

The Factory, now:
In the lab, Beast examines young Piper Cobb. Outside, Cyclops asks Magneto what he thinks about this. Magneto admits he was lost in thought. The girl bringing up the Iron Night brought it all back for him…

In the lab, a nervous Piper asks if the mutant test will hurt. Hank assures her of course it won’t. He just needs a hair from her head to find the X-gene. Piper hands him a strand of hair and Beast gets to work.

Flashback:
Magneto chides Scott for his sulking, calling it “Logan behavior.” Well, everyone likes him, Scott pouts. Magneto snaps that their people are in crisis and looking to Cyclops. He was chosen as a boy, anointed for leadership. Logan is effectively immortal. He has the luxury of time to wallow in his feelings. Scott does not. That is his strength. He has always moved forward because he has a mission and an all too short lifetime within which to accomplish it.

Cyclops shouts that he didn’t ask to be a teenage warlord and for that to be the tenor of his entire life. Of course, he didn’t, Magneto replies, unimpressed. He didn’t ask to be sent to the camps. He never asked to be hunted for what he is, be it Jew or mutant. But the world doesn’t wait for them to ask before it inflicts horrors upon them. All they can do is spite it by surviving or die. What will it be, Cyclops?

Scott glares, then admits he knows and offers him a beer. It’s some kind of store brand. He will love it. It’s terrible! Magneto takes off his helmet and follows him onto the porch. So, “to me. my X-Men,” huh? Scott asks. They need X-Men now, more than ever, Magneto fears. Scott admits he knew that. After all, he has spent two weeks looking at that awful place. He refers to the abandoned factory building nearby which used to produce Sentinels.

Present:
Idie takes the hungry Piper to their kitchen for some of Glob’s quiche. Psylocke chides Idie that this was ill-considered. She clarifies that Piper is welcome here, mutant or not, but Idie’s actions have put them in danger. Idie calmly replies that Piper could be one of them and needs help. That’s what the X-Men do. Kwannon agrees. But Idie didn’t bring it to the X-Men. She convinced Magik to go along with her scheme and just did it. She criticizes Idie for acting on her own instead of as part of a team. Idie seethes but stays silent.

Flashback:
Magneto needles that Scott spent two weeks drinking beer and staring at a Sentinel factory. No wonder he is depressed. Scott explains this lodge has been in his family for generations. There are lots of good memories here. And now even that is gone, since they built that factory. Magneto suggests he look at it another way: The factory will never build another Sentinel, while they are still alive to fight on. Look at it not as a constant insult but the skull of your enemy set out as a warning. Glumly, Cyclops points out that the Avengers trashed that factory, not them. Magneto chides him not to pick apart his rhetoric and orders him to give him another horrible beer.

Suddenly, they hear a crashing noise, then see a huge, Wild Sentinel heading toward town, aimlessly attacking things.

Present:
Idie leads Piper through the greenhouse and explains what a Wild Sentinel is. An autonomous weapons system whose core can build itself a chassis form surrounding material. After the Avengers left, there must have been a core left over. So it is a zombie Sentinel? Piper asks and Idie figures that definition works. Piper replies that she knew it was coming for her.

She knows what that’s like, Idie admits, remembering how she and Velocidad were sitting on Utopia’s beach waiting for the Sentinel to come closer and attack.

Flashback:
Magneto wonders why the Sentinel heads toward town, instead of attacking them. Cyclops suggests there might be mutants in town. Doesn’t matter, he decides and exchanges his glasses for his visor. Magneto came her looking for an X-Man? He’s got one.

Magneto flies toward the Sentinel, levitating a car with Cyclops on top. Plan? Magneto asks curtly. Cyclops explains that Wild Sentinels are more adaptable than the baseline type. He estimates he can hit it three times before it develops countermeasures. But, if Magneto gives him an opening, he can kill it. He adds that, whatever it is doing, it is going through Merle to do it. They need to stop it in its tracks.

Horrified, citizens look up. Magneto lands the car and Cyclops orders the people to hide. They‘ve got this. The citizens are undeniably confused being attacked by a Sentinel and being rescued by mutants.

Cyclops tells Magneto he needs a clear shot at its AI core. Magneto levitates a car and slams it through the Sentinel’s chest. Rising into the air, he booms there is no place for them in this world anymore. It is a monument to hate and fear, but he does not hate or fear! Visibly strained he manages to tear apart the Sentinel’s head, allowing Cyclops the clear shot he needs to finish the robot.

Magneto lands, impressed that Cyclops really only needed that one shot. Scott begins to make roster suggestions for their future team, and does Magneto still have that weird island base? Suddenly, he shouts out in horror as Magneto wildly bends metal around him and shouts he cannot control his power.

Present:
Moving through the Factory hallways, Magneto reminisces that Cyclops had to knock him out with an optic blast. Scott points out that no one got hurt. And no one saw what had become of him, Magneto adds bitterly. His dignity remains intact. Resurrection-linked degenerative Illness. As it turned out, there was a price to be paid for cheating death. A flaw in the diamond that was Krakoan resurrection. Scott stresses they don’t know that and Hank is trying to get to the bottom of it. Magneto interrupts, the weakening of his body is one thing, but he also lost control of his powers. He is just the first of them affected. And he was only resurrected by the Five one time. How many times was Scott resurrected? How many times Quentin Quire? What will they do, when an omega level telepath loses control of his powers? Scott remains silent.

Beast joins Temper and Piper to inform them the girl is one hundred percent Homo sapien. Piper protests that can’t be. She is so hungry all the time! And the cramps and the pain… She was so sure… Idie comforts her and points out now she knows the Sentinel wasn’t after her. Piper wonders what to do. Idie explains that Illyana and she will return her home to her mother, and things will return to normal. Nothing is normal in her house, Piper replies sadly. Idie replies she can do little about her mother but, the next time she brings Piper to a protest, Idie will be there and smile at her and Piper will know she has a friend.

Later, Rose Cobb tucks Piper into bed. The girl falls asleep and, for a brief moment, her hand turns into a clawed paw before turning back again.

The next day, Beast is in Merle on his way to the diner. On the phone with Quentin, he tells him he has no time to argue. He is on his way to lunch with the chief of police. Quentin is not allowed to strip part of the jet for the Marauder!

A moment later, some form behind him throws a black bag over his head and he is dragged away, his phone left behind in the snow. Paula Robbins comes running out of the diner but there is no one there anymore…