When we last left the Astonishing X-Men, we found out that The Hellfire Club with Cassandra Nova (Xavier's twin sister) were working with Emma Frost to take out the X-Men. To make matters worse, Cyclops lost even more respect for his mentor and father figure Charles Xavier. So what now?
We start with Wolverine in the Danger Room minus their Shi'Ar tech with what's left of their mutant student class (See my "House of M" article for details). Wolverine tells them that last time they were in this room and things got scary that they all froze. Hisako tries to plead with Wolverine saying that her friend died here, to which Logan replied that self-pity is Cyclops' course and that this was combat. Another student asked where the danger was. Logan smiles, the lights go off and you hear the distinct sound of Logan popping his claws. While this is going on, Cyclops and Beast are in Beast's lab trying to find a cure for the mutant gene disappearing. Cyclops asks Beast why he hasn't left his lab and Beast told him he'd be happy to explain as soon as he tells him why he's in the lab instead of with Emma. Cyclops stands there and doesn't answer Beast.
Out on the campus lawn, Kitty and Colossus are having a picnic by a tree and enjoying "crowding" each other. Out of nowhere, Kitty's father comes up from behind him. Kitty is in shock because he was presumed dead after the attack on Genosha. She just goes with it because Colossus just came back from the not too long ago. After that quick catch up, her father asks why she let him die as the skin on his face starts to fade away. Kitty wakes up in Colossus' arms realizing that it was just a dream. A dream that Emma Frost planted into Kitty Pryde's mind to get her off balance. The new Hellfire Club conisisting of Sebastian Shaw, Cassandra Nova, Mega Sonic Teenage Warhead (that's seriously her name), and a mysterious hooded woman who seems to be in charge. They argue for a bit to see what the next course of action should be until the hooded woman tells Emma Frost that it's time for her to execute her part of the plan.
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Later, Kitty Pryde is is sitting inher room preparing herself to have a conversation with Colossus that she seems to be dreading. She goes to his room and after he tells her that he isn't busy she decides to tell him never mind and leave. Colossus smiles and tells her that he thinks she should stay. She goes on another Kitty Pryde rant about how she feels and how messed up their lives are and in the middle of the rant, Colossus interrupts her and kisses her. Outside the door, Emma is debating on going through with her plan. She's confronted by the hooded woman who says that she knows that Emma Frost really loves Cyclops and Emma responds "With all of my predator heart".
Emma goes into her and Cyclop's room telling him that they need to talk. Cyclops says later because he's paying billls and that paying bills is one thing Emma said she'd never do. She pleads with him and says that she is wearing his favorite outfit. His "favorite outfit" is her dressed up as Jean Grey as the Phoenix. Cyclops turned around and is beyond mad. Emma reminds him that he didn't mind before and Cyclops says he never touched her while he was married. Emma goe on to say that he enjoyed it because he knew he couldn't control Jean. They got closer and Emma says that he was never the one she wanted, they get even closer and kiss and Emma says he could never be and she projects Cyclops to look like Wolverine. She tells him to stop acting like he's never imagined being him. The one that everyone remembered and the poster child for mutant cool. Cyclops had heard enough and punches Emma. Emma says "Silly man, you don't have claws" and Cyclops sees himself as he normally does again.
In another part of the mansion, Kitty phases through Colossus' room to the living room and she's naked. She grabs a blanket off of the couch and runs back to her room saying "OH MY GOD" over and over again. Once she get's back to Colossus' room, Colossus opens the door drenched in sweat, in his boxers, and asking if she was ok. Kitty says that has never happened before and says that it was his fault. Colossus responds "Yes, I would like to think so". She giggled as the door closed.
In the S.W.O.RD. space station, Agent Brand discovers the mutant that was prophesied to destroy Ord's home planet of Breeakword and it was Colossus. The man Ord actually brought back to life. Meanwhile in Ord's prison cell, Danger is telling him exactly what's going on and tells him he can help him escape. Ord agrees and Dangr helps him escape. Brand is furious because "The dumbest alien I ever met made us look like rank amateurs". Good thing is she knows that Ord is going right to the X-Men to go after Colossus. Abigail Brand gets a report that their mole wants to get involved with what's going on, so Abigail gets on the phone and starts talking in an alien language to try and persuade him. We find out that all this time Lockheed was working for Abigail Brand and S.W.O.R.D. as a mole.
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Back on Earth, Emma and Cyclops are having a talk. Well, Emma is breaking down Cyclops and his insecurities. She is nothing but honest with him about everything he's accomplished and how he got to wear he is. She tells him that even though he's led the team, the one time he had to defend it he lost to Storm. She also points out that Xavier made Cyclops the leader because he had nothing else. Beast is great with people, Angel looked like a god, and Xavier felt telepaths were a bit above the rest (Let's be honest, no one is putting Iceman in charge of anything). Cyclops couldn't deny any of this. Emma takes Cyclops back to a moment when he was a kid trying to decide what to do and Emma tells him it's time to let go. She leaves Cyclops in a catatonic state with his glasses off and his optic blast not coming out of his eyes.
In the kitchen, Wolverine is eating cereal and Colossus and Kitty walk in a say good morning. He looks at Colossus and then Kitty, goes back to his cereal and says "About time". He's referring to the fact that they finally had sex. Emma then comes in the room crying and frantic about something being wrong with Cyclops. She said they went to bed together and when she woke up, he was unresponsive. They rush to the room and bring Cyclops to the infirmary. Emma tells Kitty to check on the kids, but before she goes, Kitty notices that the bed was completely made up, so they couldn't have gone to bed. After Colossus lays Cycops on a table, Sebastian Shaw approaches Colossus and Colossus just begins to attack him mercilessly. The fight ends after Shaw absorbs enough kinetic energy from taking the punishment from Colossus that he claps Colossus' head and knocks him out. Meanwhile, Kitty finds Negasonic Teenage Warhead sitting on the couch and Kitty asks if she's ok and she makes Kitty phase through the ground and keep on phasing.
In the lab, Beast is confronted by Cassandra Nova and Beast tells her that if she reduces him to a beast that he will rip her apart. She tells him that his beast mind won't register that she's there and then asks if he can even sense anyone in the room. Behind her is Wolverine with his claws popped. Wolverine starts saying that he's the best there is at what he does and what he does "Is so very pretty!". Cassandra Nova reverted Wolverine back to his days as a weak and scared kid. Out of the shadows Beast has gone completely savage and starts to chase Wolverine. Wolverine runs into the women's room where Hisako is helping Blindfold. Wolverine asks Hisako to hide him because he is being chased by "A moose, but big and blue". Beast growls at her and Hisako "growls" back and makes her armor bigger than she ever has and Beast runs scared and Hisako passes out.
The X-Men had been taken out. Beast was animal, Wolverine was a scared kid, Colossus was, as the Hellfire club pointed out, a victim of his own rage, and Kitty was phasing farther and farther into the earth. So now it was finally time to complete their plan. But Kitty Pryde eventually makes her way back to under the mansion and is reminded of the conversation she had with Emma Frost after their first mission since she returned. Kitty knew eventually she'd make her move and now Kitty was ready.
In the medical lab, Blindfold is talking to someone and says that she hears them and that she will do her best to help. But there's no one conscious in the lab.
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The Hellfire club stood outside of a metal chamber that held Cassandra Nova, but none of them could open it because Xavier and Beast set it up so that no one could open it. Emma leaves after she feels Kitty's consciousness and goes looking for her. Emma finds her and Kitty proceeds to beat Emma down and then phase her into a hole in the ground. Kitty forces Emma to tell her who she's working with by phasing and telling Emma "If you get in my head, you get rocks in yours". Kitty makes her way to try and continue saving the team when the hooded woman says that she can't stop THE WHITE QUEEN! Kitty's reaction fir every reader "Yeahbuhwhat?". Emma is the White Queen and she's in a hole in the ground. Just keep reading, it'll all make sense soon.
All of sudden we are in a hospital and Kitty and Colossus just had their first baby. All of the Astonishing X-Men are there and are proud of the two of them. Xavier shows up to show his happiness but he gets skeptical at the child's birth. Time goes by and The X-Men tell Kitty and Colossus that their baby is dangerous. Xavier blocks Kitty's power and Colossus apologizes and punches Kitty knocking her out. More time goes by and Kitty holds a phased axe in Colossus' head and makes him tell her where they have their son. Colossus tells her and she goes to get him. This was all just a psychic projection by "The White Queen".
Blindfold finds Beast (who's naked and very feral) and Blindfold says that he has something that should help him. She hands him a ball of string. Wolverine and Hisako are walking through the halls when Ord and Danger come busting through the wall. Wolverine hits his head on the refrigerator and a beer falls on his head. He picks the beer up and looks at it and Wovlerine remembers who he is. Hisako is fighting Danger and Ord and Dangers tells her she has no chance in winning and then Wolverine intervenes by cutting Danger's head off, kicking into Ord, guts them both and says, "That feels right". The four fight until Beast intervenes (Now not naked and wearing a suit and bow tie) with a weapon that sticks both Ord and Danger to the ceiling. The ball of string had a bunch of scents that made Beast remember who he was and was designed for an occasion when he might go completely animalistic.
Kitty is in the basement and finally frees what she thinks is her kid but is Cassandra Nova's organic prison. Colossus now awake goes to her and asks what she's doing. She says she's saving their son. They are both telepathically knocked out by Cassandra Nova. She tells the Hellfire Club that she will be sure to kill them when she's back to normal and has taken over Kitty's body (no good dead and such).Then there's a bang from a gun. Cyclops just shot and killed the White Queen. Colossus wakes up to see Cyclops shooting people and Colossus asks Cyclops tp stop and Cyclops responds by telling him X-Men don't kill.
After Cyclops has finished shooting all of the Hellfire Club and everyone meets in the basement, he explains that he didn't shoot anyone because they weren't really there. Colossus says he fought Shaw and Cyclops tells him that while he couldn't move he could see everything and he wasn't fighting anyone. Apparently when they defeated Cassandra Nova her last action was to put her consciousness into Emma Frost's mind and Emma. What Emma did was put her teammates in their most vulnerable position. Kitty isn't believing any of this at all. She snatches the gun from Cyclops' hand and points the gun at Emma ready to shoot her. After what was done to her mind, who could blame her. Cyclops says that while Cassandra Nova brought her to the team to open the box and let her out, Emma brought her onto the team to kill her if need be. Begrudgingly, Kitty goes and gets Emma from the ground and brings her to the team. Cyclopos tries to talk to her, but Cassandra Nova is also talking to Emma and trying to get her to put her consciousness into Hisako. Emma refuses with an emphatic "Go to Hell". As soon as that happens, Ord and Danger burst into the room and attack the team. Before the brawl could really take form, they are teleported away by Abigail Brand and S.W.O.R.D.
Blindfold appears to be sad after this happens but fellow young X-ManHellion tries to comfort her by saying they'll be back. Blindfold replies "Not all of them".
Rating: 10
Another great arc continuing the astonishing (pun intended) run. Seeing the X-Men being broken down like this was a first. They've been neaten before, but they were almost completely dismantled by Emma in this one. Granted, it was so they could face their fears, but they were still broken down. Cyclops without the glasses was weird at first, but also very cool. The best part was watching Kitty Pryde being the focus of this issue and watching her be the one who attempts to save the team.
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