Previously on X-Men…
Maybe it's time to think of a life beyond the X-Men?
You mean leave the team?
What have we been fighting for all these years
if not the chance to finally live our lives?
The X-Men need us here.
Our son will need us more.
Just ever since I was in Gyrich's mind,
I can't shake this feeling that something terrible is coming.
Boy, do I sound like a fool.
No, Jean.
You sound like a mother.
Connection is a fragile treasure.
One we sacrifice so much to maintain.
Only to then sometimes watch it break in a blink
that changes your life forever.
Jean?
I need the X-Men.
Her mind is dense,
vague in uncertain memories.
As if her awareness was born only yesterday.
I see a den of confusion and pain.
Some sort of laboratory.
Then, escape.
Desperate. Alone.
One purpose…
and hope.
A home?
Darling, are you all right?
I'm fine, Scott.
But who she is or where she came from
remains a mystery.
Well, this isn't gonna get confusing or anything.
Let's call this mystery gal in the bed "Jean Doe."
All in favor?
Hmm. Every moment is a new and shocking valuation
of all we have ever been.
My friends, words will fail to prepare you.
But the Jean that lies on this couch
would appear to be the actual Jean Grey.
What do you mean, the "actual Jean Grey"?
I used gamma rays
to isolate the hemoglobic properties of both Jeans' genetic markers.
Effectively carbon dating each woman on a cellular level.
Uh, English, sugar?
Jean Doe is older,
the proper age.
Yours, while identical, is not.
Ergo, our Jean is a clone.
Impossible!
Jean, I assure you, the science is sound.
But I have memories.
Her mind, it's just fragments.
Your science could have been manipulated by someone with wicked intentions.
Scott, tell them.
Scott?
Beast, confirm your tests.
Enough tests!
I am Jean Grey, member of the X-Men.
One of the first.
I've fought by your side in countless battles,
given my life how many times?
You know me.
We just…
have to be sure.
Storm would have believed me.
Shh. It's okay.
It's okay, my darling.
Please. Not now.
Jean, um, I can take him.
He's fine.
Beast's tests won't change the fact that I'm Nathan's mother.
I know. No one is saying that.
Just…
With the Professor and Storm gone,
and Magneto here,
it's been a lot for everyone.
Scott, I need you to trust me.
Trust the life we were going to build.
The life we brought into this world.
You and I.
Of course I trust that.
In us.
You never could lie to me, Scott.
But you always believed in me.
I don't know what to believe right now.
Just…
go.
We should have left when we had the chance.
We could still leave.
Jean.
Jean Grey.
Are you Jean?
Hello? Who's there?
Answers.
Time band's looking slick, Beast.
Must be ready soon.
Future's calling me.
Once I resolve matters with our superfluous Jeans,
I'll be able to make the final modifications
to send you back to your time.
Bishop,
you said, in your future, you hadn't heard of Magneto taking over the X-Men.
What about this?
Time isn't some history book, man.
It's always writing.
Flipping back a few pages, rewriting things,
skipping forward, headed in…
Oh, my stars and garters.
Scott, you have to get Nathan.
Hank, what's wrong?
Scientists, like artists, have signatures to their work.
I know who cloned Jean.
A man so dark and twisted,
he can be described as nothing other than "sinister."
I don't understand.
Who are you?
Most refer to me as Mister Sinister.
But you can call me Father.
You!
Get away from us!
Mother and child, what a touching display.
But you and your son are meant for so much more.
Let me show you.
Never. You've brought nothing but pain into our lives.
Kidnapping us, running your science experiments
just so you could use our genes to create…
You want our son.
Nathan!
Yes. That's why I made you,
baked you.
So it's true.
I'm not Jean Grey?
Come to me.
Only I can usher you and your son to your royal destiny.
You'll come nowhere near my son!
Every cell in you belongs to me.
Your mind, your body.
You have no choice.
Time to wake up, my queen.
Struggle, of course, is quite useless.
My influence over your mind is flawless.
Shh! Mommy's busy.
Tell me your dark desire.
They shall know my inferno!
Ah, mon ami, maybe Gambit should have played less rough with you
in the Danger Room, n'est-ce pas?
But the cards, they're wild.
Huh. Rematch, then?
Well, let's look at the schedule and see who's up next.
Hmm, looks like Magneto and Rogue have the Danger Room next.
Oh, and all tomorrow, too. Wow.
Rogue's really training her stamina with the new boss.
It don't say that. They on patrol.
On second thought,
maybe Gambit go look for Rogue right now.
Cherchez la femme.
Go easy on him, pal.
Think you just sent his hush puppies up into his stomach.
Hit the shower.
I'm gonna go see about a redhead.
Well, one of 'em.
And then there was Morph.
As if he's obsessed with me.
Erasing me.
Like he's out there.
Muties…
Uh, do you see that?
Hello? That you, Gambit?
Logan?
One too many redheads for ya?
Here.
Need some help with those hard-to-reach spaces?
Always with the jokes, eh, Morph?
As if I don't know.
As if we all don't know.
Say it ain't so.
Get on back to the swamp
with the rest of them nasty, thieving critters, Remy.
I have found myself a real man.
A hero.
Liar.
No. Not you.
Not again!
Jean? Nathan?
No! This can't be good.
Demerits, my boy.
Failed to sire a child with the proper wife.
Failed to lead the team.
Flunk and failure.
Naughty, naughty.
You abandoned me, Bishop.
Where's your home?
When is your time?
Where do you belong, brother?
No! You're not real!
Failure!
Don't look at me like that.
- Don't look. - This is not my son.
Mutant freak.
What was that thing?
Oh, dear.
I think one of us has the wrong floor.
Cyclops, it's like the worst horror movie ever.
The whole mansion's possessed.
Gambit can never unsee that.
Downstairs, now!
What the heck is going on?
Haven't you figured it out?
We're in hell.
While I share Sinister's apparent affection for Dante's Inferno,
I must ask how he's exerting this much power
over our perceptions of reality.
No, this is… The clone!
Roberto, look out!
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son."
Not a Lewis Carroll fan.
A little help, please. Huh?
Yuck, you smell like burned hair.
Yo, Cyclops. Hit me.
Time for an exorcism, punks!
You're welcome.
Burn, mutants!
Enough!
Jean.
Pathetic.
What does he even see in you?
Sinister's controlling you.
You don't have to do this.
Who doesn't? Me?
Who am I?
Say my name, Scott.
No? Allow me.
I am beyond Jean Grey.
Beyond the X-Men.
I am scorn and fury,
forged in righteous brimstone.
I am the Goblin Queen.
This was just a taste of what waits for you if you follow.
My suggestion?
Don't.
No!
I guess we don't get to finish the movie.
Now, who went and hired a stampede of buffalo to do a home makeover?
Remy. Oh, I'm sorry, Remy.
Should've been here.
It okay, chère. Gambit okay now.
Cyclops, status report.
Sinister created the clone.
He made her so he could get his hands on our son.
Mister Sinister?
Sinister's the most evil man who ever existed.
He was a scientist in the 1800s.
Then he started cutting up mutants,
stealing our DNA to enhance himself,
prolong his life.
He can even take away their will.
I should know.
The voices!
There's too many!
She must not remember how to entirely control her powers.
The sheer magnitude of her psychic abilities
are overwhelming her.
How could I lead the team
when I can't even protect my own son?
My own…
Her.
Sinister has plagued us far too long,
and it is time the madman pay for his malevolent appropriations.
I can show you where he is.
Are you sure, Morph?
I'm not gonna let him hurt anyone.
Rogue, Wolverine, Beast, tend to our wounded.
I will lead the others in a surgical strike.
Fine. Lead the way.
At last, the spawn of Scott Summers and Jean Grey.
Do you know why you are my greatest prize,
you random writhing thing of chance?
The combination of your parents' unique genetics
makes your potential unlimited.
Your powers untold.
But first, you must be made invulnerable.
A new breed of perfect creations will be born this night
by my will and genius.
Fan out.
Remember, Jean is Sinister's victim, too.
She's under his control.
Better listen!
I know not what I do.
I knew you'd follow, Scott.
It's all you do. Just ask the Professor.
Fight Sinister.
Use the powers of your mind.
I do not want to fight you, comrade.
I don't want to fight you, either.
I want you to fight for me.
Yes, my queen.
I am power!
Give us the boy, you brimstone clone.
I applaud your magnetism.
But my telekinetic charm extends beyond mere metal.
Look at you, a villain playing dress-up as a hero.
I should have you as a toy.
I'm sorry. I didn't want to…
Don't worry.
Mmm.
You'll bleed, too, darling.
- Can't keep the voices out! - Come on, Jeanie.
Like riding a bicycle.
Remember how to control it.
Concentrate on my mind, Jeanie.
Just my mind. Right here. I'm right here.
Such pain.
I must help.
You will. You always did.
Remember who you are. What you mean to us.
To me.
Logan.
I remember you.
Keep going. Deeper.
I mean all that to you?
More.
Please, don't.
Scott! He's in danger.
I have to go.
My dear, you are not going anywhere.
Your body is in no condition.
Beast, please. My body won't be an issue.
This ends now!
You!
Of course.
You took my face, my husband, my family.
And now my mind.
Enough violation!
I was Phoenix.
Me! Power incarnate!
Power?
Is that all you can remember?
Is she here?
Hello there.
Do you know who I am, Jean?
Mom and Dad called you to help fix me.
They say I think too much.
Don't worry.
All I do is think, too.
I remember this.
It felt like the first day of the rest of my life.
But what happened?
When did we find our power?
Annie, watch out!
Our best friend, she died.
It awakened our gifts.
All this pain.
We carry all of this?
No! It's my pain, not yours!
Please, let me help you.
Can you tell me who I am?
Can you say which of these memories are yours
and which are mine?
Can you?
I-I think so.
We are what we remember.
And you remember nothing.
You are nothing!
Oh, Scott.
Look, he has your eyes.
Well, doesn't he need a name?
I was thinking…
Nathan.
How could I forget?
He's more than a memory.
He's a living reminder of the purest love two people can share.
And no one can ever, ever take that away from you.
This is the greatest moment of my life.
Let's go save Nathan.
If only Xavier's orphans knew the future we have in store for them.
What? Impossible.
You stay away from our son!
Fools. You have doomed the boy.
Your powers are nothing against mine.
It's over, Sinister.
Is it now?
"Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home.
"Your house is on fire
"and your child all gone."
Oh, God. Nathan.
You monster! What have you done?
It's a Techno-Organic Virus strain.
Sinister was likely exposing Nathan to it
in the hopes of making him invincible.
Figure it out, Beast, please.
Sinister's variant is too advanced.
It could take months, even years, to develop a cure.
And the virus is already spreading rapidly.
There's no time.
So what you're saying is not here, not in our time.
But what if there's a cure in yours, Bishop?
In the future.
Beast's nearly fixed your time band.
I do know a guy there. Smart. Can build anything.
This band only got enough juice for Nathan and I.
Meaning we can't go with you.
No, no, no, there has to be another way.
I won't be like my father.
I won't abandon my son.
We said we'd give him the best possible future.
It's what we promised.
Don't any of you know how it feels to be abandoned?
I won't have him feel that.
He won't feel abandoned.
I promise.
I can't be a part of this.
I'm sorry.
There'll be days when you're lonely or scared,
where you ask yourself why we did this?
Was something wrong?
But you are perfect, my baby.
Know in our time here,
we thought about you endlessly.
How your voice would sound,
your laughter,
how you'd smile.
We love you so much, Nathan.
But owe you nothing less than the best possible future.
And that is one without us in it.
Remember.
Wait.
This is your home, too.
How much do you remember?
It's strange, but most everything.
Then you know how much I've wanted to go,
to start a new life.
It's not fair.
We don't know when Sinister switched us.
Who really was the Phoenix.
Which of us married Scott.
All we have now is the future.
An unknowable future built on an unknowable past.
My next life will be mine.
Take care, Jean.
Call me Madelyne Pryor.
Farewell, Madelyne.
Farewell, Jean.
Oh, it's another hot one, Dallas, with no relief in sight.
Stay hydrated. Looks like this year drought's sticking around.
Shame about the weather.
No summer like a Texas summer.
What I wouldn't give if someone could just make it rain.
Speak plainly, who are you?
Name's Forge, Storm.
An old friend of Charles Xavier.
I'd like to help you get back what you've lost.