An undisclosed Orchis Base:
Silver Sable and her Wild Pack have just fulfilled their contract by bringing their prisoner, Nightcrawler, to Director Vulture. Pleased, he authorizes the money transfer. Vulture muses aloud that, if his Hounds hadn’t excelled in other tests, the Wild Pack’s success might have cost him his project but, as it is, they have both gotten what they wanted. So why the long face? he needles Silver Sable… unless there is really some truth to those scurrilous rumors about … complications between her and the target.
Sable cusses Redsergant Kremer out. Vulture assures her that, as she overcame her messy entanglement, she earned that check. The Vulture has always had a soft spot for those who choose ambition over affection.
He turns to the prisoner and gives the order to his men to assemble the firing squad. He muses aloud that afterwards they will dissect his brain to find out how he evaded the scanners. They might even salvage what is left for technomorphosis. Care to stay and watch?
The Wild Pack are moving toward the teleportation gate. They are leaving, she announces and, one after the other, steps through the gate till only she and Redsergant Kremer are left.
Kremer trains his gun at her and informs Vulture she is lying. She stole the prototype Vulture’s assistant Travers built. The device to beam messages into others’ minds. He takes a small device from her belt to prove it.
It is a brave man who turns snitch around an old jailbird, Vulture sniffs, clearly disgusted, but okay, let’s play this out. What’s the big deal? It hasn’t helped her. They got their man.
Kremer explains that he suspects she used it to communicate with the target to warn him. He suspects that they came up with some kind of ruse. He takes off his helmet to reveal – he is Nightcrawler. Quickly, Nightcrawler and Silver Sable take out several guards. Vulture gives order to kill them both, then wonders who the prisoner is. Vulture turns to the prisoner, just as Feral shouts an alert. Inside the other Nightcrawler’s chest, which suddenly opens, are several guns. Vulture realizes it is Mystique but wonders how that is possible. The genetic scans were clear.
Flashback:
Nightcrawler recalls the conversation he had with Mystique recently, how she told him that she doesn’t just shift skin like a clever blue squid. She can rewrite every disgusting trace of sapien code if she has to.
Present:
Mystique immediately fires her guns at the guards. As they fight, Mystique teases Kurt if he is still fawning over flatscans. Embarrassed, Kurt tells Silver Sable this usually happens later in relationship but meet his mom. Kicking Orchis guards, Mystique corrects him, one of his moms. She rudely orders Silver Sable to look alive. Or are those pieces just for show? Kurt tells Sable not to let her flirt with her. She is… Very resourceful, Sable finishes and tells him to shut this abomination down. They will cover for him. And she will invoice him later, she whispers.
He runs to another room and tries to access the system via computer but can’t. The invisible psychic bamf tells him not to sweat it. There is another way. They go looking for Wilson Travers, who suffered an aneurysm from trying to mentally control Mystique.
During the battle, Mystique muses aloud that she can see why Kurt likes Sable. Does she mean her skill with firearms or her lack of genetic prejudice? Silvija asks. She was thinking more of her “shapely bottom” but, sure, pistols and pragmatism. She expects she reminds Kurt of her.
The psychic bamf tells Kurt this is why he is here. Kurt always knew he was more than a trauma-induced hallucination, right? He is here to do the stuff Kurt can’t. He is here, so Kurt can continue to be led by his heart and leave the brainy stuff to him. He takes possession of Travers.
In the meantime in the other room, Mystique and Silver Sable are out of ammo and the Hounds are closing in.
The Bamf uses Travers’ muscle memory to access the system. Kurt shoves the two women down, because a moment later a very angry Warlock is finally free. Warlock greets Kurt and expresses his gratitude, then turns to the hounds. Warlock draws the techno-organic code from the Hounds and believes they will make a full recovery afterwards. Extremely exhausting process, becoming post-organic.
Crouching above them, the Vulture announces that he found it rejuvenating. Warlock explains to Kurt that Vulture is infected with the source code and he cannot extract it while Vulture retains control.
Vulture swoops down to attack Warlock, while vowing they will never give up control to mutant scum! He swoops to attack the others, while ranting about how mutants hoarded their treasures on Krakoa, never sharing with others.
Nightcrawler dodges his attacks and finds himself agreeing with some of Toomes’ sentiments. Lessons must be learned. His lesson will die with him! Vulture howls.
Kurt teleports around him and retorts they will never improve if they don’t stop normalizing the hatred of bitter old men. He impales him with the hopesword and Vulture falls. Hope is the only lesson that matters, Kurt announces.
Warlock now can take the sourcecode from his body, then tells Kurt that, during his captivity, he saw files of how Kurt was brainwashed and manipulated into committing the murders. He shows him the files and believes they will exonerate him. Kurt thanks him, but they have to fight for what is right, before they fight for how it looks. Fight being the operative word.
Mystique warns them Orchis reinforcements are gathering outside the portal. Battalion strength Sentinels. They are outnumbered. Kurt muses that he needs to know where they are to teleport and he cannot teleport them all. Warlock offers to help with that. He explains they are 2.63 meters beneath the Treehouse. Kurt asks if Warlock can access other assets from the same project.
When the Orchis troops come rushing in, they face an angry Rhino and, while he keeps them busy, the others make their way out from nearby the Treehouse.
Kurt watches the aftermath from some distance away and is joined by the real Spider-Man, who observes that, apparently, Kurt joined the big fight after all. Kurt laughs. He realizes he can be a mutant without being just a mutant, and… with great kinship comes great responsibility. Cool take, Spidey admits. Kurt hands him his mask. He could continue doing this and be really happy… but punching muggers doesn’t change the world, Spider-Man finishes and tells him to keep the mask. He’s always welcome, plus being a wallcrawler sometimes is the only way to keep one’s feet on the ground, he advises him before swinging away.
The statue next to Nightcrawler suddenly turns to him and asks, no one-liners, after he spent hours practicing? It shifts into Mystique. Kurt replies he was being earnest. It wasn’t the right time.
What will she do now? Short term: overcoming her trauma through a period of nihilistic abandon.
Warlock joins them and happily reveals the attractive couple with the light and dark aesthetic invited her for intoxicating refreshments.
Medium term, Mystique continues: find her wife. She would like to introduce her to their son. He would like that, Kurt agrees. They hug and agree on answering any call to arms against Orchis together.
And what about him? the psychic bamf asks when Kurt is alone. Since they are doing the ten thousand farewells of $+#& Frodo, where is his ending? He doesn’t think he is going anywhere, Kurt replies. Legion.
The bamf smirks. He knew Kurt knew. He explains he isn’t really Legion, just one of his little fractions. He hid Kurt from scanners, hid thoughts and so on. The real David Haller is hidden in Kurt’s heart. In his hope. The two agree that the world is basically good and worth the struggle, as he joins Silver Sable on a rooftop.
