Previously on X-Men…
I was abandoned by my mother, Mystique, as an infant.
Despite our shared blood, I was too blue for her.
Then, I met Rogue years later.
We could have been enemies or strangers.
Instead, unlike our mother,
we chose not to abandon each other.
Perhaps the Professor's vision for the future was too near-sighted
and begging for tolerance was our first mistake.
When Logan told me Graydon Creed was your kid, I couldn't see it,
but now…
can't unsee it.
Shoulda killed the little mistake when I had the chance.
My X-Men must now evolve.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you X-Corp.
If Charles Xavier thinks that he can skirt federal laws
by re-establishing his X-Men overseas,
he should be prepared for the blowback.
Sister, what madness is this?
- You're safe now. - Thank you.
Illyana.
Illyana!
No!
Illyana!
Ladies and gentlemen, Friends of Humanity,
please welcome Mr. Graydon Creed!
Humans were here first!
They say Genosha was a tragedy.
I say it was a consequence
of a world forced to live in danger far too long.
If history has taught us anything,
it's that mutants can't be trusted with their powers.
And what does President Kelly do? He gives them more.
Using your tax dollars to fund his X-Factor.
Not to protect you, but to protect them.
What about us?
Well, I say no longer.
Yeah, not on your watch.
For I have heard your call,
and with your support, tonight,
I officially announce my candidacy
for President of the United States.
A leader for humanity.
For humanity! For humanity!
No. No!
Hands in the air.
Stand down! Stand down!
Sorry. But no.
They call themselves the Acolytes of Magneto.
An emerging cult of radical extremists devoted to the late "Master of Magnetism"
and his vision for mutant supremacy.
Moments ago, the Acolyte leader known as Exodus
released a statement claiming responsibility for their attack.
Four thousand, six hundred and twenty-one seconds.
That's how long it took for Genosha to be reduced to ashes.
And humanity's response? Is to raise up men like this.
Men who paint targets on mutantkind's backs
while we mourn our lost.
Magneto understood there is no appealing to humanity's "better nature,"
for you have none.
So instead, we make these demands.
All mutants currently detained by the race traitors known as X-Factor
will be released.
You will remand them to Acolyte custody,
and you will stay out of our way.
Fail to comply…
Graydon Creed dies.
I give you 24 hours.
Bonne journée.
Graydon Creed deserves about as much sympathy
as a hungry crocodile at a children's pettin' zoo.
But I reckon this can't be simple for ya.
In our family, sister,
nothing ever is.
Please tell me you're not going to try to insert your people into this.
I'm already working with the UN to approve activating X-Factor.
You cannot expect me to sit by
while Exodus and his followers
twist Magnus's name to justify their war.
So, you have located the Acolyte base.
My X-Men are already on their way.
Trust me, Dr. Cooper.
Where they are going, you would not wish to follow.
Welcome to the Savage Land.
One of Earth's deadliest habitats.
A bio-evolutionary time capsule quite literally frozen in time.
Pre-historic wildlife?
Ancient evil spirits?
Don't forget the leftover experiments
from when Mister Sinister was king of the jungle.
Great. More things that can kill us.
There he goes. Our walking doomsday clock.
Always with his eye on the worst-case scenario.
I may have read your file, Lucas.
So, what's your strategy? Cause a scene?
- May have read your file too. - Just sayin'.
Can't imagine there's anything more dangerous here
than the man we're rescuin'.
Creed's actions may be detestable.
But I like to believe that no one is above salvation.
I'm detecting a familiar energy field.
Akin to a signature established when Mister Sinister…
Oh, no!
You feel that?
Some type of radiation.
Oh, dear! Hold on everyone!
Incoming surface-to-air-missiles, on our six.
Taking evasive action!
We are hit!
Losing pressure, we're goin' down!
Rogue, can you level us out?
On it, Beast. Ahh!
- Rogue! - My powers. They ain't workin'.
Our gifts have abandoned us.
Bishop!
Polaris, don't!
Come on, come on.
Closer. Closer.
Well…
at least we stuck the landing.
Startin' to see why they call it the Savage Land.
- Honestly, might be underselling it. - Yeah.
Bishop? Are you all right?
Before the jet got hit, there was some sorta energy.
I can feel my powers building up inside me,
but I can't release them.
Sinister's old Inhibitor Tower.
The Acolytes must have rebooted it to suppress all of our mutant powers.
How long can you contain it?
Let's just say I don't got a lotta time left.
We need to find the others and get Creed the hell outta here.
- Greetings, comrades. - Peter!
Almost forgot what pain feels like. Ahh!
- Are you injured? - I am now.
Thank you for answering our prayers.
Stand down.
I know these mutants as friends.
What brings you here?
We're here to rescue your hostage
so you and your Acolyte buddies don't start World War Three.
I cannot give him to you.
You misunderstand.
Creed is my brother.
Half-brother.
He and I share a mother, Mystique.
He is family.
We do what we must for our kin,
but I still cannot release Creed.
We may not have powers here, but we're not just gonna turn around…
Rogue, please.
Perhaps instead you will allow us to tour your home
and look upon your work.
Should we come to understand your cause,
imagine the message it would send.
You would view our home with an open mind?
So long as we can ensure the prisoner is being treated fairly.
Treat us with respect
and we will return such.
And perhaps your powers, too.
We seek a simple life here.
Food, water, and power.
Simple concerns.
Exodus found me in the darkest of places.
He may have his eccentric qualities,
but each day I have been here,
another mutant finds safety.
For that, he has given me a purpose
and earned my trust.
But your sister would never want you to join the Acolytes.
How can you know, Beast?
How can any of us know the desires of the dead?
A beautiful painting.
Yours?
To honor her.
I'm sorry, Peter.
The time for sentiment has passed, Rogue.
Each of us must act to ensure others like us
will not lose their brothers and sisters.
In this, we share the same goal.
Awaken, you have visitors.
Greetings, brother.
A shame that even now he cannot accept his kin.
"He does not treat us as our sins deserve,
or repay us according to our inequities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth…"
"So great is his love for those who fear Him."
If you're going to kill me, kill me.
Skip the sermons.
How painful it must be to be so hated by one's own family.
Exodus.
Colossus, I see you have brought friends
to witness our crusade.
Any mutant hand is welcome
to help build the better world we are creating.
And in this world,
you threaten to murder a man without so much as a trial?
You yourself have born witness to his sins.
And yet, he was exonerated by humans at every turn.
But we have not had our day in court, have we?
These were crimes against our kind. Mutants.
How brave and bold.
You suggest a trial here in the Savage Land?
To prove what?
Whether the soul of my brother
is beyond all hope of redemption.
- No, I ain't letting you… - Fräulein.
I have faith I can prove our brother is worth redeeming.
But does our dear Templar have faith in his ability to prove otherwise?
And if Exodus wins…
What then?
I will join your flock.
- Kurt, don't. - It's all right, sister.
It will be a signal to mutants across the world
that even an X-Man can see the light.
All this I offer, with one condition…
Colossus will preside over the trial.
They must've moved off.
Nah, more like carted off.
Place is a fortress.
Gonna need a mighty big advantage if we're gonna bust them out.
Also, need you to not implode on me before we get there.
Then we better take out that Inhibitor Tower first.
Got any bright ideas?
Bright? No.
But fun?
Hell, yeah.
The court of the Independent Haven of our Lord Magnus is in session.
Bring out the accused.
I do not recognize this kangaroo court!
No muties jury's ever gonna let me walk. Ahh!
Senyaka, behave yourself.
This court will have order.
Now, Exodus?
Plead your case.
Thank you, honorable Colossus.
Graydon Creed is a name familiar to many in this room.
He founded the Friends of Humanity.
Created a virus that kills mutants.
Tried to frame a mutant for killing the President.
The humans would not make him pay for those crimes.
Is it not just that we do?
Creed is a serpent in our garden,
whose wretched actions are born from one original sin,
a hatred of mutants.
Freaking bigot!
The prosecution rests.
Thank you, Exodus.
Nightcrawler, for the defense.
So, why do you hate mutants?
How long we got?
Let us err on the side of brevity.
Because you were born.
What are we even doing this for?
Ah.
Und how were you born, brother?
Were you born with powers?
Heck, no.
Strange, born with no powers,
considering we both were born of a mutant mother Mystique.
Last I checked, she chucked you off a waterfall.
What about that scar?
Were you born with that?
Ah, it seems to be a claw mark.
Your father.
His name is Sabretooth.
That man is not my father!
The defendant will take his seat
and answer the question.
You got no idea.
Think you're the only guy who's had it hard?
Our mother booted me as a baby,
but Sabretooth,
he wanted a cub.
And when I couldn't live up to his name…
He would punish you?
Calls himself Sabretooth, what do you think?
Every night, I reminded myself,
make it to 13,
I'd get powers like he did.
Then I could hunt like him.
Hell, even better.
But you were human.
And so he abandoned you,
just like our mother did.
Graydon, you do not hate mutants.
You hate the two who hurt you,
who failed you,
who made you feel like being human wasn't good enough.
Und even now, with your life on the line,
you let them control you,
let them make you risk your life
just so you can continue hating them.
When all you need to do is forgive yourself
for thinking you weren't strong enough.
Oh, enough of this.
Colossus,
speak the verdict.
Peter, please!
I know you see it.
He is just a man, haunted.
Just like us.
I find the defendant…
Heretic!
- Peter! - Let him go, Exodus!
Put him down!
This is how you honor your sister?
Fine. Let me reunite you with her
so you may see the disappointment on her face.
Target the Inhibitor Tower.
Time to turn the power on!
Ha-ha!
No! No, no.
No more holdin' it in.
Let's end this with a bang!
Ahh!
Your death shall salvage the day.
Pray you wield your sword better than your tongue.
En garde!
Huh?
You truly are a demon.
You are as you were born, Exodus.
A vain soul clamoring for his 15 minutes of faith.
Yield!
My faith will keep me protected from…
Get me out of this freak show,
or I will blow your brains out.
- Brother, what have you done? - What I have always done.
Survived.
- Polaris! - On it.
"You cannot conceive, nor can I,
the appalling strangeness of the mercy of God."
But who, more than you, deserves to die
for the horrors you have unleashed?
For would it really be mercy
to spare the monster who would let mutants suffer?
Or is mercy found in ending you and sparing us instead?
Alas, this is what higher powers are for.
But allow me to grant you this, brother…
You may not be a mutant,
but you are very much your parents' son.
So X-Factor found Creed alone,
wandering in the snow.
Alone, but alive. As promised.
You're playing a very dangerous game, Charles.
Cross the line and, our history or not,
I'll take away your corporation
and your school.
Welcome home, mein Freund.
I sense you have a question, comrade.
I do.
My verdict?
Did I make my case?
No, you did not convince me.
But…
you would have convinced Illyana.
How?
How could this be?
Um, guys…