Essential X-Men Vol 1 141

In his citadel at Transatlantis, Sublime explains his origins to Apollyon. His genesis was three billion years ago, in the primordial ooze of an infant Earth; he was the first lifeform on the planet to attain sentience. Over the eons he took to possessing higher beings as they evolved, controlling their actions and changing hosts whenever the planet's dominant species changed. He was even inside humans for the entirety of their existence. However, the carriers of the X-Gene were found to be immune to his infection, and had the potential to breed cosmically-powerful offspring who could destroy him, and so he resolved to destroy them.

Behind him, Apollyon writhes in agony, his heavily-modified body beginning to take its toll on him. He begs Sublime for a graft of Phoenix DNA to give him power enough to end his suffering, arguing that Sublime had promised him that much. However, as Sublime straps himself in to his surgical apparatus, he boasts that he was lying to Apollyon the whole time, and injects the Phoenix DNA into himself.

Meanwhile, aboard the ship the X-Men had commandeered from Sublime's forces, Wolverine and Phoenix face off. Phoenix asks Wolverine to accept extinction, as it is a natural part of evolution and she is merely trying to gently help it along. Wolverine retorts that she is being used by the Beast, who is no longer Hank McCoy, but merely the empty shell of his body. He explains that Sublime was ultimately the one responsible for the U-Men, Cassandra Nova's Nano-Sentinels, the Kick epidemic, the Weapon Plus program, and that his goal is the utter destruction of her and everyone like her. Wolverine dares Phoenix to look into his mind, as she is still unsure of her purpose; she came to fix something that was dying, and the Beast has assured her that was mutantkind. As elsewhere on the ship Tom Skylark submits himself to his mortality in despair over losing Rover, Phoenix reaches into Wolverine's mind and is momentarily stunned by memories of her former life, giving Cassandra and Martha time enough to pull up behind her in the war-glider.

Cassandra explains to Martha that in her research on the Phoenix she has found that its link to its host is localized at the crown chakra on the top of the head. Confident that they are all going to die, but "for a good cause," Cassandra gives Martha the order to telepathically disconnect Jean from the chakra, which she does. Jean becomes human again, and Wolverine explains what had happened in the 150 years since her death: Magneto, possessed by Sublime, had killed her, and in his despair Scott had quit the X-Men. Hank tried to keep the team together, but eventually broke from the stress and became a Kick addict. By the time anyone realized that Kick was in fact Sublime in aerosol form, it was too late to save him. Before long, the extinction gene triggered and the human race was decimated.

Aboard the war-glider, Cassandra, content that she is going to die, playfully rummages through Martha's mind, in the process revealing that Martha had been the Xavier Institute's mysterious "No-Girl" all along. Suddenly, she notices something approaching from behind, before the war-glider suddenly explodes, killing Cassandra and mortally wounding Martha.

At the Xavier Institute, Cerebra's readings go dark as mutant after mutant is claimed by Sublime's feeder parasites. Resolving to not let themselves also be taken, the Three-in-One, identifying themselves as Weapon XIV, arm the Institute's self-destruct mechanism, going out in a blaze of glory just as the feeder-infected mutants batter down the door.

Sublime, now armed with the power of the Phoenix, arrives to confront the X-Men and states that in addition to killing Cassandra and Martha, he has also drowned Mer-Max. With his battle cry of "WOO-HOOO!" the Beak charges Sublime with his titanium baseball bat, but Sublime simply extends his hand and sets the Beak alight in a torrent of Phoenix fire. Sublime proclaims that this is the end of evolution.

Sublime then turns to Tom Skylark, bombarding him with gale-force winds. Tom begs for Rover, if he can hear him, to save him, and at that moment Rover bursts through the hull of the ship with a final "DESTROY!" knocking Sublime to the deck and allowing Tom time to escape before Sublime sends the Sentinel crashing down in flames with a single wave of his arm. EVA opens fire on Sublime, but he seizes hold of her, hacks into her computer brain with his Phoenix powers, and initiates her self-destruct code.

Near Rover's wreckage, Wolverine finds the dying Beak, who regrets not being able to live up to his grandfather's legacy. As Tito dies, Wolverine rushes Sublime, cutting open his stomach and gouging out his eyes. Sublime asks Logan if he planned on living forever, before turning off his healing factor with a thought and gutting him with a burst of razor-sharp wind. Wolverine lands next to Martha, who, her tank shattered, makes one final telepathic broadcast about how they will soon be reunited in the "White Hot Room."

Sublime confronts Jean, and makes her the offer that with their powers combined, they could conquer the entire cosmos. Jean is unmotivated by this prospect, and reveals that the X-Men were all just keeping him busy while she disinfected Hank's body. Asking him if he planned on living forever, Jean taps into the power of the Phoenix and extracts Sublime. Beast comes to his senses and reveals that he had lied about his cure for the extinction gene; he tried to search for one, but couldn't find the time while also running the school. Suddenly, he is decapitated by a discus thrown by Apollyon, who, driven insane by Sublime's abuse, proclaims that "All is perfected" before tearing off his protective suit and dying of exposure.

Tom finds EVA, now little more than a puddle of liquid metal. Nevertheless, she can still speak to some degree, and appears to recognize Apollyon. Tom proclaims his love for her and promises to fix her, as elsewhere, Wolverine ponders the end of his long life. He entrusts the future to Jean and dies, as the entire reality is slowly claimed by Phoenix fire.

Jean ascends to the White Hot Room and speaks to the Phoenix consciousness, explaining that the entire future was so bad that she had to amputate it from the main reality. The consciousness advises her to repair the damage done to time and space; the "dying thing" she was sent to burn away was Sublime himself all along. Now a White Phoenix of the Crown, the highest potential of Phoenix power, she holds Earth-616's entire universe in her cupped hands as familiar voices emanate from it; "Every diamond has its flaw." "Gus was a good dog." "Are these words from the future?" She finds herself surrounded by all the universe's many thousands of potential Phoenix hosts, and among them, Quentin, who advises her to grow a new future with "her heart's blood." Jean whispers into the universe for Scott to live, as 150 years in the past, Scott accepts Emma's offer to lead the X-Men and kisses her passionately.

Notes

This is a UK title that features reprints of American X-Men titles.

Links and References

References

Essential X-Men Vol 1 141

Appearing in "Prisoner of Fire (Part 5): Liberation"

Synopsis for "Prisoner of Fire (Part 5): Liberation"

Appearing in "Prisoner of Fire (Part 6): Hunting Bogon!"

Synopsis for "Prisoner of Fire (Part 6): Hunting Bogon!"

Appearing in "Here Comes Tomorrow (Part 4): Rescue and Emergency"

Synopsis for "Here Comes Tomorrow (Part 4): Rescue and Emergency"

Notes

See Also

Links and References

References

Fan Feed