Storyline, Overall Plot Arcs

[Katherine Pryde]

Storyline

The past can never be forgotten, just as sins can rarely be forgiven...

Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters has reopened after the events on Alcatraz Island with Ororo Munroe as its new Headmistress. The students continue with their studies, planning their futures now that there seems to be peace between mutants and humans.

Dr. Hank McCoy has become the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations while Logan and Kurt Wagner have become part of Ororo's staff. Bobby and Rogue have picked up their relationship, relishing in the fact that they no longer have to be careful when they kiss. Graduation is drawing near.

Rumors spread like wildfire...

Yet there is a new threat on the horizon. Emma Frost, Headmistress of the Massachusetts Academy has opened her doors to any and all young mutants yearning to control and advance their powers at any cost. Her school is also a front for a high society group known as the Hellfire Club; a club out to influence world events for the accumulation of power and wealth. The Hellions, as Emma's students are called, are junior members of this elite club.

and old habits die hard...

Eric Lensherr has been spotted downtown, talking up some former members of the Brotherhood, many of whom were humanized on Alcatraz Island. He is stirring up resentment amongst mutants who were forcefully given the cure. As his stature grows, his powers slowly return, as well as the itch for retaliation.

Across the globe Dr. Moira MacTaggart has come across something she never imagined possible. Charles Xavier is alive, his mind now in the body of his identical twin brother born brain dead because of Xavier's psychic powers in the womb.

It was said that the cure would solve everything...

Now scientists are discovering that not only is the cure not permanent, but that it triggers an advanced mutation within the X-gene, making powers evolve slightly. What this means for mutants has yet to be determined since the FDA has yet to release this news to the public.

It was only the beginning.

[Katherine Pryde]

Part I
-The Resurrection Plot-

They say death is the last stage of one's life. Once you're gone you can't come back. No one is immortal. One may cheat death, but no one can return from the dead.

Or so it was thought.

Jean Grey, the only Class 5 mutant on the planet died under tragic circumstances. Her powers were too much for her to handle, branching off into dual personalities within her mind: Dr. Jean Grey, a gentle and caring coul, and the Phoenix, a mixture of raw emotions. She died at Alkali Lake to save the lives of her friends and returned six months later out of control, killing her lover and countless other souls. In the end she herself was killed by one who loved her, ending the fury of the Phoenix.

Until now.

Beneath the headstone engraved with the name Jean Grey something stirs. For the last few months the body of the beloved X-Woman has been mending itself whole again, growing restless to be free once more. Like before the Phoenix will rise from the ashes to live again. But this time her resurrection brings about a new change to the world.

On Alcatraz Island a middle aged woman sits at her computer, staring listlessly at the screen. A sound from the hallway disturbs her, and when she opens the lab door she finds Dr. Kavita Rao gasping for breath on the marble floor. On the other side of the lab another woman screams as three raggedly dressed strangers materialize out of thin air. They are the mutants Quill, Psylocke, and Arclight. Outside the island another mutant is seen wandering the newly cleared grounds...Callisto of the Morlocks.

Back at Alkali Lake four more souls have been revived and have been spotted in the neighboring woods looking lost. William Stryker now sits in a local hospital alongside his son, Jason 143, both unable to explain where they came from. The mutant known as Deathstrike is putting terror in the hearts of local Canadiens as she ravages houses for food, threatening people with her claws. And then there is the so-called blind man lying comatose in the same hospital as Styrker and Mastermind. No one seems to know who he is...but every once in awhile he will murmur a name. "Jean."

But they aren't the only ones back from the dead. The mutant Spyke is rumored to be heading back to New York, while Senator Robert Kelly has materialized in Dr. Moira MacTaggert's new lab at Xavier's mansion. It seems the extent of the Phoenix's fury has yet to be seen with both mutants and humans popping up from the dead, her powers striking an unbalanced cord across the globe.

What happens next is anybody's guess.

[Katherine Pryde]

Part II: Rebirth

"The cure is not permanent."

The dead have returned to the living and now an even bigger challenge must be faced. The cure has been proclaimed a failure by the brightest minds in science. It does not suppress the mutant gene permanently, it only puts it into hibernation so that it can return with a vengeance, wreaking havoc to the user before reclaiming it’s proverbial throne.

"Alliances are made to be broken."

The Massachusetts Academy has closed its doors in Boston and reopened in the heart of New York City under a new name. It is believed they are the next generation of mutants, but where they stand isn't yet clear. At the same time the Hellfire Club has also opened their doors within the Big Apple. Only the elite of the elite will be granted access to their lives, but all is not calm within the inner circle. They are breaking apart into separate factions out to usurp the other, leading to what may become a messy conquest for ultimate power.

"Death is only the beginning."

Two men have stepped forward, taking the war of words between humans and mutants one step further. Former Senator Robert Kelly has seen the light. Mutants are not bad; they are misunderstood and deserve the same respect as everyone else. Colonel William Stryker on the other hand says mutants are the source of the world’s problems. With them around there is no chance for humans to find their rightful place in life.

"Doomsday has arrived."

With every power struggle a group weakens and another surges forward to take its place, and rarely for the betterment of society. In the government there are forces at work to tear apart the country and thrust it into a civil war. One side will continue the ailing fight for human rights; the other will begin a new project set to control the mutant population.

"Ladies and gentlemen, This is the future of our race."

Let’s bring things to a boil.

[Sarah Rushman]

Part III: World On Fire

The year comes to a close...

After a run-in between the X-Men and Hellions at the Pentagon school rivalries have flared up, the information that should have only been in the hands of one school, The Frost Academy, is now in the hands of both. The school year comes to a close and what should be a happy occasion seems to be only a calm before the storm as a word that was once only a whisper has become a threat: Sentinels. The Hellfire Club sends out teams to the assembly plants to glean more information, the X-Men send out teams keep tabs on them…knowledge leeks towards the ready ears of Magneto, who once again has plans for mutant dominance.

A parting of the ways…

While time brings Jean Grey back to visit the mansion time also tears the team apart. A job offer made by the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club, Selene Gallio, is accepted by Scott Summers, proving some frayed edges cannot be mended. The graduating classes of the X-Men and Hellions both look towards their academic futures as they solidify their primary allegiance to the mutant cause.

The best you have…

While the X-Men and Hellfire concern themselves with Sentinels the Brotherhood has its own prospects to look to. A city blackout caused by a magnetic pulse is all the signal former Brotherhood members need to tell them Magneto has returned to his Brotherhood and what had been a Brotherhood almost divided between Pyro and Quicksilver is mended back into one. The first public order of business? An attack on an anti-mutant rally. The Brotherhood is not the behemoth that it one was, however, and members are sent out to see what remaining mutants are waiting for an invitation to return. The Morlocks haven't been waiting for an invitation, they've been waiting to hear news of Magneto's return for another reason: Revenge.

During a recruitment visit Pyro is pickpocketed by a disgruntled Morlock. The item pocketed: a bottle of pills given to him by Dr. Nathaniel Essex. What has been “helping his headaches” seems to be also increasing his control. When a curious Morlock takes one of Pyro’s pills thinking them mere painkillers he’s surprised by the increased power, the control, the sleight giddiness accompanied by the power trip…a search begins for a way to get more and soon KICK is the most popular mutant drug on the streets. Problem? It’s addictive, and by the end of the summer those fiercely caught in KICK’s web will also discover it’s deadly.

No one cares about a missing mutant…

Nathaniel Essex has always been a man to push boundaries and set aside some moral obligations in favor of discovery. An accident involving Rogue creates an unexpected physical change. A new persona emerges, and Mr. Sinister doesn’t have to worry about reputation. Let the experiments begin…