M (Marvel Comics)

M (Marvel Comics)
Penance (Monet Yvette Clarisse Maria Therese St. Croix) is a mutant superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is primarily depicted in association with the X-Men. She was created by writer Scott Lobdell and artist Chris Bachalo and first appeared in The Uncanny X-Men #316 (Sept. 1994). She was originally a member of the teenage mutant group Generation X (1994), and later X-Factor and X-Men. Monet is a Muslim superhero and has illustrated the struggle of accepting "different" people central to X-Men stories.
Powers and abilities
Monet exhibits superhuman prowess in virtually all aspects. She boasts superhuman strength, enabling her to lift heavy objects such as automobiles and boulders. Her other physical attributes include invulnerability, agility, dexterity, speed, swift reflexes, and impeccable balance. X-Men's Bishop highlighted that Monet holds a "superior rating" across all human physical categories. She is almost invulnerable, capable of enduring direct hits from firearms at a distance and even powerful strikes from characters like Hulk. Much like Hulk, Monet has enhanced healing abilities, allowing her to rapidly recover from injuries. She also displays a highlighted resistance to toxins, diseases, and aging. Additionally, Monet has telescopic and night vision, complemented by heightened auditory senses.
Monet possesses an eidetic memory and demonstrates intuitive skills. An instance showcasing this ability is when she rerouted one of Arcade's robots to trace the signal back to its origin, even without knowing the robot's exact specifications. Psionically, she can levitate and propel herself through the air, achieving supersonic flight speeds close to Mach 3. She has occasionally displayed telekinetic abilities, such as deflecting bullets and emitting thought waves as concussive blasts.
As a telepath, Monet can read minds, project her thoughts into others, and shield her mind against telepathic intrusions. Offensively, she possesses limited capabilities such as mind control and memory manipulation. However, the range of her telepathy spans only a few feet around her. She can also perceive mutant auras.
Monet and her siblings have the unique ability to merge, forming different combinations with varied powers. The twins, Nicole and Claudette, find this merging process particularly seamless.
In addition to her powers, Monet is adept in hand-to-hand combat and possesses a genius-level intellect.
Citizenship
Monet holds citizenship in Algeria, Bosnia, Monaco, and France. Monet's father is the Monégasque ambassador to France, making it very likely that Monet is a Monacan citizen.
Penance
Hollow (formerly called Penance) is a character associated with the St. Croix family who first appeared in Generation X #1 (November, 1994), and was created by Scott Lobdell and Chris Bachalo. It is a mindless body in which three members of the St Croix family, all members of the superhero team Generation X, have been trapped in for some time. Hollow has red skin and rarely speaks.
The powers of the different hosts/prisoners of the Penance form vary, but the hollow Penance form's powers are diamond-hard skin and extended sharp claws on their fingers, toes, and hair follicles. Due to the density of the skin, it is durable and resistant to psychic intrusion. Hollow also possesses animalistic agility, as she usually moves around by crouching and padding and leaping on all fours; she has been shown on occasion to use her feet to grab and grip objects and people.
Hollow appeared as a supporting character in Avengers Academy, beginning with issue #21 (Jan 2012), making occasional appearances throughout the series.
The original creative team behind Generation X, Scott Lobdell and Chris Bachalo, intended Penance to be a girl called Yvette from Yugoslavia. This was never directly revealed in the comic and links to Monet St. Croix were made by the subsequent creative team.
Fictional character biography
Early life
Monet St. Croix was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia, during a family ski trip and is the second child of the rich and eccentric Afro-Monégasque Cartier St. Croix and his Algerian wife. Cartier was the son of the French aristocrat Louis St. Croix. She grew up pompous and spoiled as a result of being the favored child of her father with his prestigious position as the Monégasque Ambassador to France. She was also raised as a Muslim. Shortly after her mother's mysterious death, her brother Marius, the vampiric mutant known as Emplate, was banished from the St. Croix home. He eventually returned after learning the dark arts and requested that Monet join him in conquering another dimension. She rejected his offer, and after finally having enough of his sister's ridicule, Marius transformed her into a red-skinned, untouchable mute creature whom he nicknamed Penance. Monet's younger sisters, Nicole and Claudette heard the commotion and investigated, when they could not find Monet, they assumed that Marius had killed her. The twins then banished him to another dimension while Monet followed, believing it was her only way to revert to normal.
Afraid their father would break down after the loss of his favorite child, the twin sisters decided to merge bodies and replicate Monet. This version of Monet would have been identical to the original if it were not for Claudette's autism which would sometimes take effect, leaving "Monet" in catatonic stupors. Subsequently, while the twins were impersonating their sister, they were among the new generation of mutants captured by the techno-organic alien race known as the Phalanx.
Generation X
While impersonating Monet, the twins battled the Phalanx until she and the other teenage mutants were rescued by Banshee and Emma Frost. The group soon formed the Generation X team, with Sean and Emma acting as co-headmasters of the new school designed to train them in the use of their powers. Shortly after the school opens, Banshee, Synch, and Jubilee go to the airport to welcome new students Chamber. The twins remain at the school and are reunited with the Australian teleporter Gateway, who they are glad to see and address as "Mentor". However, Gateway's return serves to warn them of the return of their evil brother. The twins convince Gateway to teleport them, Husk, Skin, and Emma Frost to the airport, where Emplate has already managed to absorb the powers of Chamber and Banshee. Though the twins recognize Emplate and address him as such, he says he cannot determine their name (despite the aspect of his mutant power that grants him "knowledge at a glance" with mutants, including their name, and more or less allowing him to read their memories). In addition, Emplate knows for a fact they are not Monet, as the true Monet has been his prisoner and main source of sustenance for years. =====
Rather than face the full might of Generation X, Emplate decides to retreat. The twins try to stop him from fleeing but are forced to stop telepathically by Emma, who saw Husk seriously wounded in the battle and desired to keep "Monet" from meeting a similar fate. The twins are furious at her interruption and warn her never to enter their minds again. Shortly after returning to the school, Gateway reappears on the front lawn, this time with the true Monet (having found her during the aforementioned battle, as Emplate returns to his hideout to find her gone), who is still trapped in the Penance body. Gateway utters a single word: "Penance", and this is assumed to be the unfortunate girl's name by the others.
The moment Penance wakes up, her overriding desire is to be free. She instinctively slashes through anything in her way with her razor-sharp claws to achieve this goal and escapes onto the school grounds. The twins immediately display both a detailed knowledge of Penance's plight (specifically her connection to her former captor, Emplate) far beyond even her teachers, as well as a curious reluctance to physically engage the girl. While the rest of the team scrambles to try and capture Penance by force, Chamber merely lets her come to him, sensing that their mutant powers have made them both monsters and kindred spirits. Penance calms down in his presence, bringing the crisis to a peaceful end.
The team soon becomes aware of Monet's reoccurring, temporary trances, where she "spaces out" and is typically unresponsive for several minutes at the least (due to Claudette's autism). Monet later mentions (to the reader) that this most often happens during moments of intense focus. Worse, as she is the only member of the team with actual super-strength, she proves completely unmovable until she emerges from the trances. An early occurrence of this trance state forces Synch, Skin, and Jubilee to abandon her during a trip to New York City, where they end up battling and defeating Hemingway of Gene Nation. Monet eventually wakes up and reunites with the team, just in time to save Jubilee and Leech from being crushed by a falling slab of debris. Though Jubilee is grateful, she later points out that Monet would be a major liability if she ever spaced out in battle. Monet brushes aside her concern, and continues to do so virtually any time her trances are mentioned in the near future.
During the Generation X Annual '95, the team is introduced to Cordelia Frost, Emma's younger and even less trustworthy sister, and her constant companion, the mutant Mondo, who is able to absorb both organic and inorganic matter, taking on its properties, as well as transport himself through these same materials. Mondo eventually joins the team, while Cordelia leaves. At the same time, Jubilee discovers and accidentally rips Monet's diary, which more closely resembles a children's coloring book. Penance later has something resembling a seizure while swimming with Jubilee, forcing Emma to give her psychic equivalent of a sedative. Penance remains unconscious in the medical wing for the next two issues, with Jubilee as her most constant visitor.
Almost immediately after Chamber saves the team from a near-fatal attack by Omega Red (Penance wakes up at some point between issues 11 and 12), they are again attacked by Emplate, who desires to have Penance returned to him. This time, Emplate has recruited a team of Hellions to do his dirty work—all of whom are under his thrall, including Gayle Edgerton, Chamber's former lover who was paralyzed when his powers first manifested. Gayle helps Emplate because she wants revenge on Chamber, but once Generation X is captured, he betrays her. Monet is the last to be captured, and Emplate reveals the first of several St. Croix family secrets to Generation X: that Monet is actually his younger sister. However, he does not reveal to them that the twins have fused to become Monet, though it is clear from his choice of words that he is now aware of this as well. Monet manages to escape and contact the X-Men for help before the Hellions find her. The X-Man Bishop arrives to assist Monet. He is disturbed upon learning of Monet's relation to Emplate and reveals that hordes of "Emplates" will be a source of great trouble in the future.
Meanwhile, Jubilee manages to enrage Emplate into absorbing her genetic marrow, knowing that because she cannot control her powers when she is angry, neither can Emplate. The resulting explosion of pyrotechnics frees Generation X, and Emplate flees with Penance, though it is unclear if she was taken against her will. They re-emerge before Monet and Bishop, and Bishop immediately tries to kill Emplate to spare the future from his taint. Penance confronts Monet, torn between killing her and helping her. Monet does not resist, hoping her death will atone for their brother's sins. Upon hearing this, Penance attacks Emplate, which shocks him into retreat. However, he reveals that he has converted Synch into his minion, and transported him to his hometown of St. Louis to feed on his own family and friends. The team manages to stop Synch, though it is Monet who ultimately defeats him by daring him to truly synch with her. Whatever Synch finds inside her horrifies him and shocks Emplate's influence out of him, leaving only more questions in the team's minds about what else Monet may be hiding.
While the rest of the Marvel Universe was occupied with Onslaught, Emma, sensing the disturbance, tried to protect Generation X by taking over their minds, gently but firmly forcing them to accompany her to her home. While this did indeed protect them from Onslaught, it also left them basically defenseless against Toad, whom Emma had allowed to live in her home. To correct this oversight, Nicole projected herself into Emma's mind for the first time (Emma of course mistook her for a younger Monet), explaining the situation so that Emma would release the team and talk sense into Toad.
Following this adventure, Generation X comes to the attention of Bastion of Operation: Zero Tolerance. For the time being, Bastion takes special notice of Chamber, Banshee, and Emplate, and their disastrous first meeting at the airport. Bastion eventually figures out Chamber's identity, and upon learning that Chamber's plane ticket was purchased by Frost Enterprises, gradually comes closer to exposing Generation X's (and more importantly, the X-Men's) secrets.
Monet enters one of her trances during a xenobiology midterm given by visiting professor Beast. Penance ventures into the classroom via the window and attempts to sit for the test, and though she only manages to shred her test paper, Emma considers it a plus that she is at least trying to fit in. Beast is fascinated when Monet re-emerges from the trance, having built a detailed origami structure out of her test paper. Beast reveals to Sean and Emma that Monet's trances likely have nothing to do with her mutant power, as they first thought. Instead, he recognizes the signs and says Monet is autistic. Though Sean and Emma discuss treatment options and try to talk Monet into seeing a doctor, she abruptly destroys the school's cars on the scheduled date and refuses to go. Sean chases her into the sky, where she tearfully describes having been poked and prodded by numerous doctors as a child and begs him not to make her go through that again. Sean agrees though Emma insists that Monet simply manipulated him to avoid the problem yet again.
Emplate appears while Monet, Husk, Jubilee, and Emma spend the Christmas holidays at the St. Croix home in Monaco. He only reveals himself to Monet, and his presence seems to trigger in her the ability to view mutagenic auras, just as he does. Emplate invites Monet to join him, and failing that, asks her to find someone to take his place in the dimension where he is constantly torn apart. Monet cannot imagine condemning anyone else to such a fate, and Emplate vanishes into a sea of white hands that tear at his flesh.
Generation X is then attacked by the team of Sean's cousin Black Tom Cassidy and Mondo, who undergoes a fearsome transformation in appearance and attitude, having been shown waiting for Tom's signal (over the course of several issues) to reveal his true nature. Black Tom's plant manipulation completely transforms the school grounds, and he forces Sean and Emma to fight each other to the death in front of the captured team while Mondo captures Jubilee, who managed to evade them. Bastion finds Jubilee first, and protects her by killing Mondo, but then takes Jubilee hostage and transports her to his desert base in New Mexico. Emma uses her powers to force Sean to unleash his sonic scream, supposedly killing her in the process. Sean is rescued by Penance, who slices Tom in half with a single blow.
Having discovered that the captured team was actually merely empty husks, Sean sets out to find Generation X. Unknown to him, they have been transported to a tiny island in the ocean. Monet and Chamber try to protect their teammates, but the sheer hopelessness of the situation causes Monet to panic, and she attempts to fly away and get help, but soon exhausts herself and falls into the ocean. Synch pulls her back onto the island, but Monet has lost all hope. Emma recovers and searches Sean's mind, helping him realize where the team is. Oddly enough, the team suddenly finds itself on a rusty ship at sea where their dreams seem to have been realized: Chamber's body is restored and he is dating Husk; Synch and Jubilee are in love and run a camp for kids; and Emplate is restored to the kind brother that Monet once knew. Skin, however, is tied to a pole because he will not make a request of Glorian, the Dream Shaper who rescued the team. He eventually convinces Glorian to send the team home, though Glorian assumes this means Skin's home of Los Angeles and sends the team there. Sean realizes that Black Tom planned to send the team to the sentient island Krakoa.
M/Penance/M-Twins
Skin leads the team through East L.A. in search of his cousin Gil. Monet inexplicably becomes very childlike and playful while at Venice Beach, but only Angelo seems to find this odd. Skin's ex-girlfriend Tores, tipped off by Operation: Zero Tolerance that he had faked his death, furiously corners the team with her gang at Gil's house in hopes of killing Skin. Prime Sentinels soon destroy the house, with Generation X, Gil, and Tores barely escaping in time and fleeing into the sewers. Meanwhile, Sean, Emma, and Penance intercept a distress call from the X-Men, who have been shot down by Operation: Zero Tolerance, and head to Emma's home in Miami in disguise. They are met by Emplate's henchman D.O.A., who arranges a deal: Emplate will reveal Monet's location (and thus the team's location), but in exchange for Penance.
Sean flat out refuses, but Emma knocks him out with a psi-bolt and proceeds with the deal. In L.A., Monet notices Chamber being purposely distant to Husk (because he suspects Skin and Husk are growing closer) and advises him to correct his mistake, which Chamber does. Monet also notices Synch having regrets, as there are many things he may never do if they die in the coming battle. He asks for permission to kiss Monet, and she agrees on the condition that it "doesn't count if we don't die", and kisses him first, leaving him stunned.
Back in Miami, Sean wakes up in time to punch Emma and calls for Penance, who instantly frees herself from Emplate's grasp, giving Sean a clear shot with his sonic scream. Though Emma desperately claims she wouldn't have really gone through with the deal, Sean does not believe her, tells her to stay away from the kids and the school, and leaves with Penance. During the battle against the Prime Sentinels in L.A., Tores briefly displays the mutant ability to harness psychic energy and direct it as a weapon. Generation X launches an ambush, but is quickly overwhelmed. Synch and Monet are wounded, and she urges him to synch with her invulnerability so he can survive the next wave of attacks, which he has never done before. As he does so, Synch glimpses Monet's true nature, calling her "M&M" just before the attack. As planned, Gil then sets off a huge explosion to destroy the hideout and the Sentinels. Synch emerges from the rubble first, using his aura to locate Monet. Instead, he finds both Nicole and Claudette, each in a coma and separated for the first time since joining the team as Monet. However, the secret of where the real Monet was would remain a mystery to the team.
Soon after Emplate returned to terrorize the young mutants, the twins merged with Emplate, creating a new persona, called "M-Plate". When the three of them separated, the twins finally learned what their brother did to the real Monet St. Croix. Everett managed to convince Nicole to finally reveal the truth to the rest of the team. Immediately after Nicole's story, the twins formed back into "M" and then merged with Penance, freeing Monet in the process.
Returning to normal, the traumatized M became self-reliant and outwardly harsh and defensive to make up for her fear and insecurity, causing her to clash with many of her Generation X teammates. The only person she allowed to see her vulnerabilities was Everett Thomas, with whom she started a brief romantic relationship. A rivalry soon started with her teammate Jubilee, which only intensified after Monet and Everett became an item. When Emplate returned during the school dance, Jubilee caused an explosion, which, once again, separated the twins from each other, and left the Penance body to become its own being.
When the twins leave for their home, they take the now-empty Penance body with them, along with the young mutants Artie Maddicks and Leech.
Upon hearing the return of the twins, Cartier St. Croix decided to visit his three daughters. Coming face to face with his severely injured son Marius, Cartier apologized to him. Marius then revealed that he was the one responsible for the death of his mother, further infuriating Monet.
Monet was then transferred to an exclusive boarding school in the Swiss Alps. The school was burned down during a battle with its headmaster (a vampire) and M chose to return to the Massachusetts Academy.
Final days of Generation X
When Monet returned, she and Everett continued to grow close and began to intensify their relationship. However, Monet was the most devastated when Synch sacrificed his own life to stop an exploding bomb that had been placed in the academy by Emma Frost's sister, Adrienne. After the tragic incident, the team rapidly began to fall apart, even as Monet began to open up and act more vulnerable around her teammates. Monet also began to observe Emma acting strangely villainous. After they found out Emma had killed her sister in retribution for Everett's death, the entire team questioned Emma's leadership abilities, particularly when combined with Banshee's relapse into alcoholism following the death of his lover, Moira MacTaggert. The school was promptly closed when the students decided their instructors were no longer fit to teach them.
X-Corps/X-Corporation
After Generation X disbanded, M temporarily joined Banshee's militant X-Corps with Husk and Jubilee to keep an eye on the devastated Irish mutant. However, the X-Corps were soon destroyed by Mystique, leaving M to join the X-Corporation's European branch, located in Paris, where she assisted Cannonball, Multiple Man, and Siryn in defeating Weapon XII. Monet helped the X-Men battle Black Tom Cassidy and the Juggernaut before returning to her duties at X-Corporation Paris.
X-Factor Investigations
Following the events of House of M and the shutdown of X-Corporation, M, who also has appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair, has opted to join X-Factor Investigations, a private detective agency run by Multiple Man. Monet completed her first mission on the team by telepathically tricking the famous actor Jack Vaughn to confess to the murder of Gloria Santiago's sister. Afterwards, Monet broke down crying in Jamie Madrox's arms, but quickly threatened to break him in half if he ever revealed her moment of "weakness". A comment made to Rictor seems to imply she no longer wishes to go by the name M. However, in a therapy session with Doc Samson, Monet stated that she hides behind the "M" persona so that others will not see how vulnerable she has become after the long time she was held captive by her brother.
Monet also had a brief romantic fling with Madrox. The tryst did not end well because Madrox was unsure whether he or his duplicate had slept with Monet while he or his duplicate slept with Siryn at the same time. While the two women initially refused to speak to each other, they eventually took a shopping trip to patch things up after being threatened by Layla Miller. During this Paris trip, the two encountered a small anti-mutant mob marching on Paris' own Mutant Town and were arrested by the Gendarmes for breaking the riot up. However, in a French prison, the mob leader bragged to Siryn and Monet that he and his mob had succeeded in burning down the building, which was why he had been arrested. In response, Monet crucified the mob leader before she and Siryn broke out of the prison to check on the ex-mutants. When the two arrived, they found an abandoned girl whom Monet decided to take back to the States.
World War Hulk
When the Hulk came to the X-Mansion to capture Xavier over his part in the Hulk's banishment from Earth, Monet and the rest of X-Factor came to help. During the fight, she said to the Hulk that she was virtually invulnerable, and he responded by kicking her to New Jersey.
Messiah Complex
M has a small role during Messiah Complex. She is seen along with the rest of the X-Teams and has a talk with Warpath about his feelings concerning his late friend Caliban and being a member of X-Force. Later, she aids Emma and the Stepford Cuckoos in locating the baby. She is present at the final battle on Muir Island.
Divided We Stand
M buys all the women of X-Factor Investigations an iPhone but destroys Rahne's when she finds out she is leaving. She tells Rahne about how she is always telling her to feel and claims that since Layla is not coming back, she will keep her iPhone in mint condition until Rahne returns to X-Factor. She leaves, telling Rahne to not be a stranger, or stranger than she already is. She then goes to a bar with Siryn where Theresa reveals she is pregnant. Monet offers to be with her if she chooses to get it aborted, only to be told she is not taking that option. M also states that Theresa has embryos more mature than Jamie, and that "he would make a crap father." Later Siryn tries to tell Jamie of her pregnancy, but Monet realizes Siryn still loves Jamie.
Secret Invasion
X-Factor is employed by the estranged father of former teen X-Man Darwin to locate him. Monet, Guido, and Jamie find Darwin travelling with Longshot, who is later revealed to be a Skrull. The trio also come into conflict with She-Hulk and Jazinda, who are in pursuit of said Skrull. For some reason, She-Hulk gets very angry around Monet. After he is captured, the groups go their separate ways and reunite Darwin with his father. Monet is oblivious to the fact Darwin has a crush on her.
Operating out of Detroit & return to New York City
Shortly after the events of Secret Invasion, Darwin's father sells him out to a group of people called the Karma Project. While he is in a coma, Monet is called in to read his father's mind only to find nothing. Later, the real Longshot shows up to help and Monet shows an attraction to him, though it is unknown whether it's Longshot's ability to have women fall in love with him or not. She then teams up with Madrox, Strong Guy, and Longshot in finding Darwin and is present at the birth of Siryn’s baby, Sean.
Val Cooper sends Monet, Guido, and Darwin to acquire a shipment of weapons designed to take out mutants, though instead they sink it to the bottom of the ocean. Monet later falls under Cortex's mental control and proceeds to attack her teammates until they are attacked by three Sentinels from the future. Monet is freed from Cortex's control by Longshot and when she attacks Cortex, she discovers that he is the second Madrox duplicate who was sent to the other future timeline during "Messiah Complex."
In the aftermath of the battle with Cortex, X-Factor unofficially splits due to tensions between Jamie and Terry. Guido and Madrox move back to New York while Monet, Darwin, and the others stay in Detroit to work under Terry. However, the Detroit team soon crumbles when a depressed Terry chooses to disband the team and move back to Ireland. Monet chooses to move in with Terry to keep an eye on her. Monet worries for her friend, who becomes increasingly withdrawn and even has a brief sexual fling with her former boyfriend Deadpool.
Unsure of how to help Terry, Monet visits the team in New York in an attempt to get Jamie and Terry to work their problems out. However, upon arriving back at X-Factor headquarters, Val Cooper informs Monet that her father Cartier has been kidnapped by a terrorist cell that will behead him unless Monet surrenders herself to them.
Monet and Guido eventually travel to South America to confront the kidnappers, only to have their plane shot down. Monet awakens in an illusion where she is led to believe that she is once again transforming into Penance. It is revealed that the mastermind behind the kidnapping is Baron Mordo, who plans to feed off Monet to combat his cancer.
After Strong Guy is resurrected by Layla Miller at the cost of his soul, Guido having no restraints kisses Monet. Monet attempts to discuss what happened between them before being attacked by Rahne and Shatterstar's pursuers.
Monet becomes scared of Guido not having a soul and calls him a freak. She also gets into a heated argument with Theresa (Siryn/Banshee) about her not letting go of people's death.
Monet becomes enraged after seeing Madrox alive, thinking that Layla was responsible for his resurrection. She slams Layla into a brick wall, then flies off with her into the New York skyline. Madrox tells Terry to fly after them, but Terry says that if Monet really wanted to hurt her, she would have done it right there. Monet drops her off at the Empire State Building and scares the tourists away so she and Layla can have words. Monet says to Layla that she always knows what's going on. Layla states that this is not the case, and didn't resurrect Jamie. She uses the telescope as an example of her not knowing every event as the events get closer and then blackout. Layla then tells Monet that Guido was supposed to have died and not Jamie. She states she wanted to change fate so Monet wouldn't blame herself for Guido's death which would have resulted in her going through a year-long depression. She wanted to spare Monet's pain, who, according to Layla, will eventually become her best friend. After hearing all this, Monet leaves Layla so that she can have some space and collect her thoughts.
Monet was shown to be dying from a serious brain injury when she fought Pluto, God of The Underworld, where he mercilessly beat her to near death until Wolfsbane's son intervened and killed Pluto. Later in a fight with Strong Guy, M died due to the brain injury, but is subsequently resurrected by Guido when he becomes Lord of Hell.
After the Hell On Earth Saga, Monet finds Darwin in Las Vegas. They have drinks at a bar, and he questions her where her soul went to after she died. Annoyed by the singer, she approaches him and explains that there is no heaven, but only nothingness or Hell. Darwin finally admits his feeling towards her only to be rejected. As Darwin leaves the bar, Monet aggressively corners him on wall, and tells him that she needs to feel something after her experience with death. The two end up having sex with one another. Darwin knows that Monet is not mentally prepared for a relationship, but is happy to be there.
X-Men vol. 4
Monet has returned to The Jean Grey Academy after her event with X-Factor, to try to make sense of what to do with her life. Jubilee, her old teammate, is surprised to see her again. She then meets Karima Shapandar and immediately forms a friendship with her due to both of them having an experience with death. Lady Deathstrike and her team see her jogging with Monet and attempt to ambush them. During the confrontation, Karima is shot and Monet manages to protect her temporarily until Monet gets caught off guard. Before Deathstrike could finish her attack, Karima shoots and injures Lady Deathstrike, causing her to retreat to regroup and get more intel. Monet explains to the X-Men that Lady Deathstrike's consciousness is now in the body of a teenage Latina named Ana Cortes. Storm asks Monet to help them figure out what her plan is. Monet, true to fashion, thinks about herself stating that she's just there to take some downtime and is not interested in becoming the team's new bruiser. Jubilee, infuriated, says to Monet that Storm isn't asking. Monet agrees to help due to the fact that she feels guilty about Karima taking a bullet that she feels she should have stopped.
All-New, All-Different Marvel
In the wake of the M-Pox crisis, Monet joined Magneto's team of X-Men, with the goal of protecting mutantkind at any cost. During this time, she developed a love-hate relationship with the reformed Sabretooth, whom she frequently teased. They bickered so much that Psylocke tells them to just get a room, prompting Monet to ask if she was jealous. While investigating a mysterious illness and series of abductions that befell the Morlocks, M and her teammate Sabretooth ran afoul of Emplate. She tried to distract him long enough so he would fade away, but as he did, he managed to possess M, cursing her with the hunger he suffered. Having been with her on the mission, Sabretooth was aware of what happened and later visited Monet in her room to tell her that her secret is safe with him and that she could feed on him whenever she needed.
During a war between the Inhumans and the X-Men, M and Sabretooth became part of the mutants who guarded over the Inhumans sent to captivity in Limbo. M began to feed on the Inhumans instead, wanting revenge and blaming them for the death of Madrox by releasing the T-Mist into the air. A fight broke out when Sabretooth tries to stop her, but at the end of the issue, he is willing to let her kill the last Inhuman to keep her curse secret. Sabretooth eventually ran away with her to help her contain Emplate's possession and find a cure.
Generation X, Vol. 2
After somehow getting separated from Sabretooth, M continues hunting mutants to feed off of and ends up hiding out by the Xavier Institute, now located in Central Park, New York. After the X-Men discover that someone's been hunting mutants and draining their powers, Jubilee's students decide to take matters into their own hands and hunt the perpetrator but end up caught in M's ambush. Jubilee arrives to save her students, and upon seeing her old friend, M temporarily regains control of herself and immediately retreats.
Monet hides out in an abandoned subway car, where D.O.A. brings in Morlocks for her and Emplate to feast on. Emplate warns M that Morlocks are not enough and they need stronger mutant marrow to remain anchored to their plane of existence. M declares she's looking for a more permanent solution to their problem.
M-Plate attacks the Xavier Institute, going after the students. She has D.O.A. use his abilities to disconnect the school from the outside world, cutting off any possible interference. The original teammates, Chamber, Husk, and Jubilee all fight M-Plate and are soundly defeated — Jubilee almost being killed by having her amulet torn off and thrown into the sunlight to burn. Thanks to the timely save of Quentin, he uses his Phoenix shard to cure Jubilee's vampirism and returning her mutant powers.
M-Plate, having absorbed Hindsight's powers earlier, now has his ability to see the memories of whomever she touches. Bling comes up with the plan and touches M-Plate, the latter seeing her past. This freaks out Monet, with Emplate telling her to get a hold of herself. Bling gets word to the other previous Generation X team, and they all combine their efforts and grab a hold of M-Plate. Monet is panicked, with Jubilee apologizing to her and saying she needs to remember. All the memories of her time with the team come flooding back, which eventually breaks Emplate's hold on her, separating the two and finally curing Monet. Marius fades away to his own dimension and Monet is taken to the infirmary with the injured students. Jubilee watches after her, with Monet insisting that she's fine and just needs a manicure and a blowout. The two have a chat and Monet is her usually snarky self, with Jubilee smiling and complaining that she was almost happy Monet was back.
Weapon X-Force
Sometime after the events of Generation X, Monet fell under the mind-control of Mentallo and joined Stryker's cult, The Church of Human Potential. She lured Weapon X-Force there so she could share the gift with Sabretooth. She's freed from Mentallo with the aid of Deathstrike and teams up with Sabretooth's Weapon X-Force to take down the cult — even going into the depths of Hell to kill Stryker for good.
During this final mission, she and Sabretooth reconnect with Domino, Deathstrike, Omega Red, and Deadpool, believing them to have feelings for each other. It's revealed Sabretooth left M while she was possessed by Emplate and has regretted it for a while since she was one of the few to treat him decently after his inversion. Monet doesn't blame him due to how much of a monster she became but Sabretooth still felt guilty despite her understanding. He wants her to know something but is interrupted before he can tell her. Sadly, things end tragically before the truth can be revealed.
Sabretooth is lost in battle facing a power-boosted Mentallo. Being overwhelmed by the former, Mentallo shot him with Domino's discarded gun, sending him into the blade machine as the final sacrifice in Stryker's resurrection. This devastated Monet, who screamed for him as he was sliced to pieces. Monet was present with Weapon X-Force during Graydon's resurrection. Mystique says Sabretooth is responsible, but Monet sadly asks what happened to Sabretooth.
The Loners
When Ricochet breaks into a building holding women being used to harvest Mutant Growth Hormone, he meets an assassin named Delilah. During the fight, one of Ricochet's discs breaks open a chamber and Penance emerges. At first confused as to where she is, Penance tries to convince Ricochet that she isn't a threat, though he is forced to avoid her claws. Lightspeed (following Ricochet out of concern) lands between the two and uses her Kymellian powers to mesmerize Penance, but when she places her hand on Penance's shoulder, she stabs Lightspeed through her shoulders. Later, Penance encounters the rest of the group at the hospital where Julie is recovering. It is then she senses a kindred spirit in Phil Urich. She is followed by the ones intent on imprisoning her, including a mysterious woman named Fuyumi Fujikawa who calls her "Hollow". Mickey Musashi's makes a deal with the woman that allows Hollow to remain with the group which allows her to stay at Phil's residence.
House of X
M is later seen living in the sovereign nation of Krakoa constructed by X as the new mutant homeland for him and his people. She was amongst a host of heavy hitter X-Men selected to take the fight to Orchis before they could bring the abominable Mother Mold online, whilst on their way to the Orchis Forge from their lunar base the team was met with heavy resistance by their opposing force.
After their ship was believed to have been dispatched by the Forge's armed forces, Husk and Archangel were found dead on arrival. The rest of the team went to work while Monet stayed behind with Jean to set up a telepathic relay for everyone to keep in contact with one another. The vessel they were on was eventually boarded and M shoved Jean out an escape pod while fighting to the death with Orchis's soldiers in her Penance form.
At a later date, thanks to The Five who merged their collective power together to resurrect Monet as well as Warren, Jean, Scott, Paige, Logan, Raven, and Kurt with help from a Cerebro-empowered X. Monet was more than happy to be back amongst the living but was hesitant to receive a hug from Storm. The six heroes were well received by their fellow mutants back home; hailed as saviors of the highest caliber after giving their lives for preserving their newfound way of life.
Claudette and Nicole St. Croix have re-appeared as members of the new mutant nation of Krakoa; they were shown at the Akademos Habitat both turned into Penance, and they were being reprehended by their sister Monet.
Reception
In 2014, Entertainment Weekly ranked M/Penance 72nd in their "Let's rank every X-Man ever" list.
In 2018, CBR.com ranked Lady Penance 18th in their "Age Of Apocalypse: The 30 Strongest Characters In Marvel's Coolest Alternate World" list.
Other versions
Age of Apocalypse
Monet never made a proper appearance in the harsh world known as the Age of Apocalypse. A girl referred to in the book as "Claudia" (which may be one or the two merged St. Croix twins) was known as Know-It-All and was part of Generation Next, having merged herself with the team's computer system. She risked her life to search the databases of Apocalypse, a task which ended in her destruction at the hands of the Shadow King.
Claudette along with Nicole also appeared working alongside their brother in Apocalypse's Elite Mutant Force, going by the name "The Monets".
Age of Apocalypse took place before Scott Lobdell, Monet's creator, left the X-books. His original intention for the character of Monet was for her to only be a fake persona used by the M-Twins when they were joined. The appearances of Know-It-All and her sister in the Monets were intended as clues towards Monet's true nature in the regular continuity.
After the fall of Apocalypse and the ascension of Weapon Omega to power as the new Apocalypse, he began resurrecting deceased Alpha mutants. The operation was interrupted by Prophet, however, who stopped most of the resurrections with the exception of Monet's. The connection between Know-It-All and Monet seems to have been abandoned by Marvel, at least for now.
After returning to life, Monet renamed herself as Penance and began rallying mutants to her cause which was to seek forgiveness for their past crimes and to rebuild their world. She was soon approached by the servants of Weapon Omega–Azazel, Prelate Summers and Colossus–who asked her to meet Weapon Omega to discuss how she could service the citizens under him. Penance refused and used her telepathic powers to restore Colossus' memories, which caused him to side with her. She attempted to do the same for Cyclops but failed and was blasted for her troubles, leading to a fight breaking out between Colossus and Cyclops. Azazel agrees to leave and takes Cyclops with him, promising to return.
Penance is immediately approached by Prophet, the leader of the human resistance who reveals that it was he that resurrected her in hope that she would aid them and that she would be more open-minded than Weapon Omega. Azazel returns with Weapon Omega, who has come to see her kneel before him, which she does. Just as Weapon Omega leaves, the Human Resistance arrives with Sugarman. Penance promises to be in touch with Prophet, never to commit anything bad again
Legion (David Haller), a psychotic mutant on Earth and son of Professor Charles Xavier, travels back in time with the intention of killing Magneto (Erik Lehnsherr). However, Legion travels to a time when Magneto and Xavier are still friends while in Israel. As Xavier dies trying to protect Magneto, Legion vanishes, and a new timeline is created. The only person aware of how history has changed is Lucas Bishop, a time traveling mutant who followed Legion.
Because of Xavier's sacrifice, Magneto comes to believe in his late friend's dream of a peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants. Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur), an immortal mutant villain, was monitoring the fight. He chooses this moment as the perfect time to begin his world conquest, which did not happen in the mainstream Marvel universe for another ten years.
Magneto assembles the X-Men just as Apocalypse begins his war. Despite the X-Men's resistance, Apocalypse conquers all of North America and eventually mutants are considered the ruling class. Apocalypse initiates a genocidal campaign called "cullings," killing millions of humans. To further ensure that no one is left to challenge him or undo the circumstances that led to his reign, he has everyone with telepathic or chronal abilities hunted down. Meanwhile, the changes in the timeline result in a destructive crystallization wave created by the M'Kraan Crystal.
X-Men: Alpha
X-Men: Alpha was published in January 1995 and launched the "Age of Apocalypse" crossover story. It briefly shows readers how many popular X-Men characters have changed in this new world. Bishop is reunited with Magneto while retaining fragmented memories of the true timeline. Magneto assigns his X-Men and their allies various missions. Some are to gather the forces needed to change history while others will continue resisting Apocalypse. The story continues in eight interlocking miniseries, each focusing on a different team of X-Men or other mutant forces. Each miniseries temporarily replaced one of the monthly X-Men titles being published at the time.
X-Calibre
X-Calibre is a team built around Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner), who is sent by Magneto to locate Destiny (Irene Adler), a mutant capable of seeing into the future, so that she can verify Bishop's story. Nightcrawler must travel to Avalon, a secret refuge where mutants and humans live together in peace. Along his journey, he encounters John Proudstar (Thunderbird), the monk Cain, the pirate Callisto, and his mother Mystique (Raven Darkholme). The chief antagonists for Nightcrawler's journey consist of the Pale Riders, a trio of Apocalypse's servants made up of Moonstar (Danielle Moonstar), Damask (Emma Steed), Dead Man Wade (Wade Wilson) and the Shadow King (Amahl Farouk). Nightcrawler's team consists of Mystique, Switchback, and later Damask, who joins Nightcrawler after realizing the beauty Avalon has to offer. The X-Calibre series gets its name from an in-joke between Nightcrawler and his mother, Mystique, because of the caliber of bullets she uses, simply stamped with an X. This title replaced Excalibur.
Gambit and the X-Ternals
Gambit (Remy LeBeau)'s X-Ternals consist of Sunspot (Roberto de Costa), Jubilee (Jubilation Lee), Strong Guy (Guido Carosella) and Lila Cheney. They are sent deep into space using Lila's teleportation in order to retrieve a shard of the M'Kraan Crystal, essential to the verification of Bishop's alternate reality. The X-Ternals are pursued by Rictor, a henchman of Apocalypse desperate to earn his master's praise by killing Gambit. Upon reaching Shi'ar space, the X-ternals fight the Imperial Guard in order to retrieve the crystal shard. Upon their return to Earth, Strong Guy betrays the team, not only stealing the M'Kraan Crystal, but also kidnapping Magneto's son, Charles. This title replaced X-Force.
Generation Next
Generation Next consists of a young group of mutant students trained by the husband and wife team of Colossus (Piotr "Peter" Rasputin) and Shadowcat (Katherine Pryde-Rasputin). They consist of Chamber (Jonothan "Jono" Starsmore), Husk (Paige Guthrie), Mondo, Vincente Cimetta, and Skin (Angelo Espinoza). They are sent by Magneto into the Seattle Core to rescue Colossus' sister, Illyana Rasputin, who is the last surviving transdimensional teleporter. Illyana Rasputin is a slave of the Sugar Man, one of Apocalypse's prefects and ruler of the Seattle Core. Mondo finds Illyana Rasputin and hides her inside of his body, intending to smuggle her out at shift change. When Mondo is found out, the ensuing fight finds the Sugar Man killing Mondo with a blast from his tongue, exposing the rest of Generation Next. While fighting a near hopeless battle, Generation Next is left for dead by Colossus, who sacrifices them in order to save his sister. This title replaced Generation X.
Astonishing X-Men
The Astonishing X-Men are led by Rogue (Anna Marie Lehnsherr, Magneto's wife) and consist of Sabretooth (Victor Creed), Blink (Clarice Ferguson), Wild Child (Kyle Gibney), Morph (Kevin Sydney) and Sunfire (Shiro Yoshida). They are sent by Magneto to stop the cullings, which are being undertaken by Holocaust, Apocalypse's son and one of his horsemen. While helping with the evacuation and protection of humans, Sabretooth asks Blink to teleport him to Holocaust's location, which she reluctantly does. Sabretooth and Holocaust fight a vicious duel but Sabretooth is defeated and seemingly killed, horrifying Blink. (Sabretooth had rescued Blink from Mr. Sinister and she had come to see him as her dearest friend and mentor.) The team then fights Holocaust and his Infinites, destroying his factory. However, Holocaust manages to escape and the team returns to Xavier's mansion, where Rogue learns that both her son and her husband have been captured. Sabretooth is revealed by Iceman to have survived the battle, to Blink's delight. This title replaced The Uncanny X-Men.
Amazing X-Men
The Amazing X-Men consist of team leader Quicksilver (Pietro Lehnsherr) and Storm (Ororo Munroe), Dazzler (Alison Blaire), Banshee (Sean Cassidy), Iceman (Robert "Bobby" Drake), and Exodus (Paris Bennet). The team is sent to Maine by Magneto to aid in the evacuation of humanity to Europe. During this mission, the team fights Apocalypse's Brotherhood of Chaos, as well as the Horseman Abyss, who is defeated (but not killed) by Quicksilver. During their absence from the Xavier Mansion, Magneto and Bishop are attacked by Apocalypse himself, who captures them both. Fulfilling their mission, Quicksilver splits up his team to help the other X-Men: sending Iceman to rendezvous with Rogue's team (the Astonishing X-Men) and Dazzler and Exodus to find Magneto's son, Charles. Finally, Quicksilver, Storm, and Banshee go to rescue Bishop, who is in the hands of the Madri, Apocalypse's priests. This title replaced X-Men.
Weapon X
Weapon X (Logan) and his lover Jean Grey are depicted in this series carrying out missions for the Human High Council. Jean and Weapon X drift apart, as the Human High Council intends to launch a nuclear strike on the U.S. as Jean is appalled by the loss of life it would cause. After Weapon X concludes a battle with Donald Pierce, Jean leaves to help evacuate the U.S., bidding a tearful farewell to Logan. Weapon X is then sent to recruit Gateway, whose teleportation ability is necessary to bring the fleet to America. As the fleet leaves, Weapon X decides to join them, if only to find Jean somewhere in America before the bombs are dropped. This title temporarily replaced Wolverine.
Factor X
Factor X consists of the Elite Mutant Force (EMF), who serve Apocalypse. They are split into five sibling groups: Cyclops and Havok (Scott Summers and Alex Summers), Emplate and the Twins (Marius, Nicole, and Claudette St. Croix), Cannonball and Amazon (Sam and Elizabeth Guthrie), the Bedlam Brothers (Jesse and Terrence Aaronson), and Aurora and Northstar (Jean-Marie and Jean-Paul Beaubier). The EMF is tasked with maintaining control of Apocalypse's breeding pens, where people are imprisoned, tortured, and experimented on by the Beast, also a member of the EMF. Havok, jealous of his brother's leadership role, discovers that Cyclops is a traitor who has been helping people escape the pens; and in one such escape attempt, both Aurora and Northstar are seriously injured. Havok then exposes Cyclops and attempts to kill him, but Cyclops escapes with the aid of Jean Grey, who has arrived to evacuate as many people as she can before the Human High Council's nuclear strike. The Bedlam Brothers also choose to side with Cyclops, and they successfully defeat both Amazon and Cannonball. Cyclops and Jean defeat Havok, and as they lead the freed prisoners out of the pens, Havok is determined to kill his brother. This title replaced X-Factor.
X-Man
The protagonist of X-Man is Nate Grey, a mutant born of Cyclops' and Jean Grey's DNA, and the most powerful telekinetic in the world. He lives under the guidance of his father figure Forge, who leads a group of outcasts consisting of Mastermind, Toad, Brute, and Sauron, who attack trains and factories of Apocalypse while masquerading as a theatre troupe. This title replaced Cable.
Characters and affiliations
Mutant heroes
The only then-existing major mutant character missing in the original Age of Apocalypse is Psylocke. When the "Age of Apocalypse" storyline was revisited a decade later, she appeared in X-Men: Age of Apocalypse #4 in Asian form. Her origin remains unknown. There has been no explanation of what she was doing during the original Age of Apocalypse, other than the fact that she had some kind of past connection with Weapon X.
Other anti-Apocalypse forces
Besides the X-Men and its many offshoots, the Human High Council remains as the only other power opposing Apocalypse. Unlike the X-Men, however, the Human High Council considers the extermination of mutants as a viable option. Bolivar and Moira Trask, as well as Brian Braddock, are the major proponents for a mutant holocaust. Secretly, the Human High Council supports the Human Underground Resistance.
X-Universe also reveals the fate of several other individuals. Peter Parker was executed because he was a potential contact for Gwen Stacy. T'Challa and Namor perished when Wakanda and Atlantis were attacked by Apocalypse. Frank Castle went missing following a mutant raid on a Buddhist temple where he had sought peace after the death of his family. Reed Richards and Johnny Storm sacrificed themselves in the evacuation of Manhattan Island.
Apocalypse's agents
Neutrals
Timeline escapees
Some characters escaped the Age of Apocalypse into the Earth-616 continuity. These include Dark Beast, Nate Grey (the Age of Apocalypse version of Cable), Holocaust and Sugar Man.
Nate Grey allied himself with the X-Men a few times and once with Spider-Man. He later "died" by disseminating into every life form on the Earth, but has since returned to the living and is now residing in San Francisco and is part of the New Mutants roster.
Blink escaped into the multiverse and ended up leading the reality-hopping team of heroes known as the Exiles. Her counterpart on Earth-616 was thought to have died during the "Phalanx Covenant" storyline, but brought back from the dead by Selene during the "Necrosha" event.
Prophet was taken at Jean Grey's request to the Earth-616 at the end of the crossover that would close the Age of Apocalypse timeline from the timestream.
Former timeline escapees
Holocaust remained at large in the main Marvel Universe until he joined the Exiles and was killed by another universe's evil version of Hyperion.
Sabretooth survived through the same means as Blink and joined a team of reality-hopping super beings known as Weapon X. During one mission, he opted to stay behind on to raise David Richards. Eventually, he was brought back into action and joined the Exiles. He has since returned to the Age of Apocalypse.
Hatchet-9, the only surviving Mecha-Mutate officer of Assault-Regiment Delta, a regiment of traitor humans who traded limbs and more for the power and privilege of serving the High Lord Apocalypse.
Rastus, a heavily two-headed mutated creation of Sugar Man and one of many wardens of Seattles' Core, was also revealed to have escaped to Earth-616. He joined Sugar Man and lived in the catacombs underneath the island nation of Genosha until he was accidentally discovered by the Dark Beast. He was eventually killed by Callisto.
Wild Child left this timeline when a time-traveler, Quentin Quire, saved him from the Friends of Humanity and then used Wild Child to replace the latter's counterpart, who had recently died. Wild Child was later returned to the Age of Apocalypse and subsequently killed in battle.
Nightcrawler decided to stay on Earth-616 after the events of the Dark Angel Saga. He joined the X-Force team so he could search for Iceman, Blob, Dark Beast and Sugar Man. He then tracked and killed his former teammates Iceman and Blob. During the X-Termination crossover, Nightcrawler apparently gave his own life to close the Age of Apocalypse timeline from the Timestream.
Blob left the Age of Apocalypse due to the events put in motion by Archangel. He later joined Daken's Brotherhood with the apparent goal of exacting revenge on X-Force. He was killed by the AoA Nightcrawler who teleported a shark inside Blob's body.
Iceman was revealed to have defected from the X-Men and was working for Weapon Omega. He also left the Age of Apocalypse through the same means as Blob and was tracked down by Wolverine, Deadpool, and the AoA Nightcrawler. During the fight, Nightcrawler teleported to a factory and fought Iceman, defeating him without either man using their powers. Once Iceman was defeated, Nightcrawler threw his body into an incinerator.
Beast was sent twenty years into Earth-616's past. This allowed for several retcons which were used to explain that he (now known as Dark Beast) was responsible for the creation of the Morlocks and also why Mister Sinister initiated the "Mutant Massacre", as he recognized his stolen handiwork and ordered it exterminated as a debasement of his art. He later came under the employment of Norman Osborn's Dark X-Men, with the responsibility of keeping his counterpart and Charles Xavier captive while Osborn carried out his plan. He then returned to the Age of Apocalypse timeline and helped Weapon Omega on his quest to control America, but at the end Weapon Omega was defeated and Dark Beast was taken back to Earth-616. He was thought to be deceased, after apparently dying in a bomb explosion after progressively suffering from fatal health problems due to his own further experimentations on himself. During the 2017 Secret Empire storyline, Dark Beast turns up alive and healthy but is eventually killed by Magik.
Sugar Man was also sent twenty years into Earth-616's past, and it was through him the Genegineer received the advanced genetic research to allow the small nation of Genosha to become powerful by enslaving mutants. He remained at large in the main Marvel Universe and only a few knew about his existence. Sugar Man returned to the Age of Apocalypse timeline after being released from Steve Rogers' custody by Dark Beast, and was believed to remain there at the end of the crossover that would close the Age of Apocalypse timeline. But it was revealed that he had returned to the main reality before the event and was thought to be deceased at the hands of Magneto, only to reappear alive and planning to send six hundred mutant embryos to the future. He was later killed by a mysterious assailant who was hunting down the former Age of Apocalypse residents.
What If
Synopsis for "What If... The Age of Apocalypse Had Not Ended?"[edit source]
An alternate AoA reality was presented when Magneto, giving up on Bishop's mission in the final moments, rescued his family from the nuclear explosions alongside some of his allies. Magneto, Rogue, Sunfire, Quicksilver, and Weapon X found themselves working with the last remaining human heroes (including Tony Stark, Invisible Woman and Gwen Stacy, the latter of which formed a romance with Quicksilver) to deal with a new threat: the Coming of Galactus.
As there was no Fantastic Four, it fell to the survivors to work against Galactus and his herald, the Silver Surfer. As the heroes sprung into action, Night-Thrasher ended up using advanced technology to empower himself with amazing psychic powers. Together, they were able to do the impossible and claim victory. After Weapon X used his adamantium claws to slay the Silver Surfer, the collective psychic potential of humanity was focused against Galactus, eventually killing him.
Secret Wars (2015)
The Age of Apocalypse is featured as one of the many domains of Battleworld in Secret Wars. It has its differences from the only original storyline, with two of the main ones being the inclusion of Cypher as a prominent character and Magneto marrying Marvel Girl aka Emma Frost instead of Rogue. The Age of Apocalypse's location on Battleworld is known as the Domain of Apocalypse, the most ruthless domain of all."Secret Wars" is a 2015–16 comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics. It recalls the 1984–1985 miniseries of the same name. Released on May 6, 2015, the storyline includes a core Secret Wars miniseries, written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by Esad Ribić, which picks up from where the "Time Runs Out" storyline running in The Avengers and New Avengers ended. The event also served as a conclusion to the Fantastic Four (which Hickman had written from 2009 through 2012) after Marvel decided to cancel the title due to a film rights dispute with 20th Century Fox and declining sales.
The storyline involves the destruction of the Marvel Universe and various other alternate universes (including those seen in the Ultimate Marvel and Marvel 2099 imprints, the "Age of Apocalypse" storyline, the Marvel 1602 universe, and the "House of M" storyline), with each universe's respective Earth combining with each other into Battleworld, a planet that exhibits the aspects of the various universes. The planet itself is divided in many territories that are mostly self-contained and where a "pocket universe" composed of a specific storyline or universe reside and evolve. Various versions of individual Marvel characters can be present multiple times on the Battleworld. For example, there is a Tony Stark present in many of the territories where the Kingdom of Manhattan has both the Earth-1610 and the Earth-616 versions, and many versions of Thor serve as a peace-keeping force. The stories depicted in the miniseries about each domain's characters' powers and personal histories vastly differ from the ones portrayed in the main Marvel universe(s). Following the events of this storyline Miles Morales, who originated within the Ultimate universe was integrated alongside his family (with his mother Rio and uncle Aaron being restored to life) and friends into the prime Marvel Universe or Earth-616.
The core limited series was originally to be eight issues long, but was later decided to extend to a ninth. The series ran for nine months. The miniseries are in three categories, which are Battleworld, Warzones, and Last Days. One of the core miniseries is Ultimate End which ends the Ultimate Marvel imprint after 15 years. Ultimate End was written by Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mark Bagley, the team that began the Ultimate Marvel universe with Ultimate Spider-Man.
The series was released to positive reviews, with critics praising the storyline, characters, action, and art styles.[failed verification]
Premise
The series was introduced with two issues in May 2015, then ran monthly until December. The series began with a nine-issue miniseries (plus a Free Comic Book Day issue #0) and came out of the current Avengers and New Avengers "Time Runs Out" storyline. The basic premise involves the collision, or what is referred to as an inter-dimensional "incursion", of the Marvel 616 Universe with the Ultimate Marvel 1610 Universe; which destroys both. Pieces of the two universes are mysteriously saved and combined with other post-collision universes, creating the "Battleworld."
Tie-in brandin
Numerous tie-in miniseries and ongoing titles fleshed out the event with many of them revisiting previous Marvel storylines such as "Civil War", "Age of Apocalypse", "Days of Future Past" (renamed, in this 2015 event, to "Years of Future Past") and "Armor Wars". All of the tie-ins were aligned into one of three subtitles during the event consisting of Last Days, Battleworld, and Warzones. Warzones, Battleworld and Last Days made Secret Wars one of the most expansive crossovers to date.
Marvel's executive editor Tom Brevoort revealed that "Last Days" would show several characters from Captain America and Ms. Marvel to Loki and Magneto in their final adventures before the Marvel Universe comes to an end in Secret Wars, "Warzones" would focus on the individual domains, and "Battleworld" would be concerned with the infrastructure of the Battleworld as a whole.
Plot
Issue one
As Doctor Doom, Doctor Strange, and the Molecule Man confront the Beyonders in a last-ditch attempt to save the Multiverse, the final Incursion of Earth-1610 and Earth-616 begins. Heroes from each universe confront one another. Mister Fantastic and the Maker (the Mister Fantastic of Earth-1610) make plans to survive the cataclysm with a small group of colleagues; Mister Fantastic selects heroes and important scientists, while the Maker intends to save himself and the Cabal. The Maker sends a doomsday weapon and the Children of Tomorrow to Earth-616. Black Bolt, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Black Widow, Spider-Woman, and Beast are killed, and Stark Tower is destroyed. Meanwhile, the Kingpin hosts a viewing party of the incursion for villains. The festivities are interrupted by the arrival of the Punisher, who kills all the villains.
Manifold begins teleporting heroes to the lifeboat. Cyclops merges with the Phoenix Force and destroys the Children of Tomorrow before being teleported onto the ship. Mister Fantastic and Black Panther pilot the ship to the center of the Incursion. A hull breach occurs, separating the part of the ship carrying the Invisible Woman, the Thing and most of the young Future Foundation. They are destroyed by the Incursion before Mister Fantastic can rescue them. The world fades to white as the two Earths collide. Doctor Doom's mask appears out of the white void, before the white turns to black. The life raft comes to rest on a mysterious planet.
Issue two
A new Thor is shown joining the Thor Corps, a police force composed of different versions of Thor. The young Thor from the Battleworld domain of Higher Avalon tells the story of how God Emperor Doom created the Earth and the universe. The Thor of Higher Avalon and Old Thor travel to Bar Sinister to bring its baron Mister Sinister to Castle Doom, where Doom holds court from his throne on the World Tree. Sinister is charged with secretly aligning with Baron Hyperion of Utopolis in opposition to Higher Avalon. Sinister chooses to face his accuser Brian Braddock in battle and defeats him. Before he can deal the killing blow, God Emperor Doom intervenes. To save his brother, Baron James Braddock confesses to crimes against God Emperor Doom. God Emperor Doom banishes James to the Shield, a massive wall that protects God Emperor Doom's realm from outside horrors. Thor of Higher Avalon and Old Thor escort Baron James to the Shield, where he jumps into the Deadlands and dies fighting zombies.
In the Kingdom of Utopolis, Minister Alex Power is brought to an object uncovered by an "earthquake": the life raft from Earth-1610. Valeria tells Sheriff Strange that the object is much older than the believed age of Earth. Strange tasks the Thor of Higher Avalon and Old Thor to enforce a quarantine around the discovery site. One of the Moloid diggers on site inadvertently opens the craft, and Old Thor is killed by weapons thrown from within. The young Thor flees to tell Sheriff Strange what has happened. As he leaves, the Cabal and Maker emerge from the lifeboat. Thanos is told by a Moloid that they are in Battleworld.
Issue three
Sheriff Strange informs God Emperor Doom of recent events in the domains of Battleworld. Before a statue of the Molecule Man, they reminisce how God Emperor Doom had battled the Beyonders and managed to salvage various fragments of the Earths that were being destroyed. Sheriff Strange is summoned to Utopolis by the Thor Corps to examine the Cabal's life raft. A group of Thors are sent to apprehend the Cabal. Once all the Thors, aside from the Thor of Higher Avalon, have left, Sheriff Strange tells the hidden Miles Morales that he may come out of hiding. Miles reveals he snuck on to the ship just before the Incursion destroyed his planet.
On the Isle of Agamotto, Sheriff Strange explains Battleworld to Miles, then reveals he has found the other life raft. The Thor of Higher Avalon opens the vessel and the survivors of Earth-616 exit stasis. Sheriff Strange realizes the heroes are from his timeline when he sees his fellow Illuminati Black Panther and Mister Fantastic. Sheriff Strange reveals they have been in stasis for eight years and that God Emperor Doom saved them all when he created Battleworld. In Utopolis, the Cabal and the Maker are discovered by the Thor Corps.
Issue four
In Utopolis, the Thor Corps battle Thanos, the Cabal, and the Maker. On the Isle of Agamotto, Sheriff Strange explains to the life rafters that the Beyonders were the ones behind the universes crashing together and that he and Doctor Doom were able to kill them and take their power. A wild boar version of Thor teleports to Castle Doom to report his findings. Sheriff Strange arrives at the battle with the raft survivors. God Emperor Doom also teleports to the battle and unleashes his power against the Cabal and the surviving members of the life raft. Cyclops, powered by the Phoenix Force, confronts God Emperor Doom and temporarily gains the upper hand. God Emperor Doom recovers, snaps Cyclops' neck, and orders the invaders to surrender. Sheriff Strange teleports the surviving members to safety. Enraged, God Emperor Doom kills Sheriff Strange with a blast of energy.
Issue five
After Sheriff Strange's funeral, God Emperor Doom enters a realm located below the Doctor Strange statue and talks to the real Molecule Man, who lives there. It is explained that the Beyonders were the originators of reality, but eventually became harbingers of destruction. The Molecule Man was unique across the multiverse: a being whose presence in each reality represented a sliver of a single inter-dimensional entity. The Beyonders would initiate the end of a particular reality by detonating that reality's Molecule Man. God Emperor Doom, Sheriff Strange, and the Earth-616 Molecule Man had gathered Molecule Men from across the multiverse and combined them into a bomb, which they directed towards the unsuspecting Beyonders. The detonation killed the Beyonders and allowed the Earth-616 Molecule Man to absorb their power and channel it to God Emperor Doom, who in turn created Battleworld.
Valeria's Justice Division of the Future Foundation prepares to hunt down the Earth-616 heroes and also the Cabal. Thor appears in Doomgard where the Thor Corps are located, Black Panther and Namor appear in Egyptia, Captain Marvel in Bar Sinister, and the Black Swan in Doomstadt. At the end of the issue, Thanos appears at the base of the Shield.
Issue six
Three weeks later, Battleworld is in disarray with several kingdoms in open rebellion. Someone called "the Prophet" has formed an army against God Emperor Doom, and has toppled the upper and lower kingdoms of Egyptia. God Emperor Doom orders his most loyal Barons (Mister Sinister, Maestro, Apocalypse, and Madelyne Pryor) to deal with the threat of the Prophet. Of the other Cabal members, only Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive have been captured, while the Black Swan offers help to God Emperor Doom. The Foundation find the source of God Emperor Doom's power and inform Valeria, who has become suspicious of her father.
Mister Fantastic and the Maker team up to find the source of God Emperor Doom's power, and send Spider-Man and Miles to infiltrate Castle Doom. The Spider-Men meet Valeria, who chooses not to go with them. Valeria demands to know who killed Sheriff Strange and Peter confirms Valeria's suspicions that no one from the raft was responsible. After entering a trapdoor under the Molecule Man's statue, the Spider-Men are confronted by the real Molecule Man. Meanwhile, Namor and Black Panther arrive at the Isle of Agamotto. Using the Key of Agamotto given to them by Sheriff Strange, they are given access to powerful items Sheriff Strange had collected over the years including the Siege Courageous and an Infinity Gauntlet that works only in Doomstadt.
Thanos, who had been captured by the Hel-Rangers, talks to the sentient structure that forms the Shield (a giant alternate version of Ben Grimm), and convinces him to reject God Emperor Doom and rise, causing the Shield to fall down.
Issue seven
The Prophet, who is revealed to be Maximus, marches his troops to Castle Doom. Baron Sinister takes the chance to turn against Baroness Pryor, but is subsequently struck down by the former Baron Apocalypse. The Thor Corps joins the battle against God Emperor Doom, as Jane Foster has managed to convince her fellow Thors to fight against their god. Former Baron Maestro joins the battle with his army of Worldbreakers. The two Reed Richards use the fight ensuing on the steps of Castle Doom as cover to infiltrate the building and steal "the most valuable thing that's left from the Multiverse" from God Emperor Doom. The Black Panther and Namor travel to the Deadlands for reinforcements and the Black Panther uses his title as the King of the Dead to convince the zombies to join the forces opposing God Emperor Doom.
Issue eight
Chaos continues on the outskirts of Castle Doom. Mister Fantastic, Maker, and Star-Lord fly to Castle Doom, but a Hulk causes their ship to crash. The Maestro calls God Emperor Doom out to face him, but is met instead by the giant Ben Grimm who is destroying everything in his path. Susan, Valeria, and one of the Black Swans save God Emperor Doom. Grimm continues his rampage until Franklin and Galactus arrive. Franklin reveals God Emperor Doom is his father. Ben realizes Franklin is the son of Susan and allows the Franklin-controlled Galactus to destroy him rather than fight the boy. Susan bursts into tears until Valeria asks Susan to come with her.
In Castle Doom, Star-Lord is attacked by the Black Swan while he is repairing his ship. Star-Lord manages to prick his Groot 'toothpick' into the World-Tree, causing the toothpick to merge with the tree to form a giant Groot. Susan and Valeria head to the statues of the Molecule Man and Sheriff Strange, but stop when they see the Mister Fantastic and Maker.
God Emperor Doom arrives on the battlefield and gives Thanos a chance to be a Baron. Thanos refuses the offer as he believes he is already a god. God Emperor Doom rips out Thanos' skeleton. The battle continues until Captain Marvel spots the zombies coming from the remains of the Shield. Black Panther (with the Infinity Gauntlet) and Namor arrive, declaring to God Emperor Doom that his reign is over.
Issue nine
Namor and Black Panther battle with God Emperor Doom wielding the power of the Beyonders and the Black Panther wielding the Infinity Gauntlet. Susan does not recognize Mister Fantastic and accuses him of being one of the "murderers" of Sheriff Strange. Mister Fantastic reveals that God Emperor Doom killed Sheriff Strange. Mister Fantastic and Maker meet with Molecule Man, after which Maker betrays Mister Fantastic by trapping him in a temporal bubble that devolves him into an ape. Molecule Man intervenes, rescuing Mister Fantastic while splitting the Maker into meat slices. Back on the battlefield, God Emperor Doom realizes Black Panther's fight is a distraction, and teleports to the Molecule Man's statue to confront Mister Fantastic.
God Emperor Doom tries to use his powers to destroy his rival, but he finds that Molecule Man has taken away most of his abilities so that the confrontation between the two will be fair. Mister Fantastic and God Emperor Doom face off. God Emperor Doom, exclaiming of how it always comes down to him and Mister Fantastic like this, begins gaining the upper hand by mocking Mister Fantastic for, as the genius that he is, not having been able to find a way to save the entire Multiverse. Mister Fantastic counters by calling God Emperor Doom out for his insecurity, as the first thing that God Emperor Doom did when he obtained the Beyonders' powers was to steal Mister Fantastic's life and family, making God Emperor Doom confess that Mister Fantastic would have done a better job with the Beyonders' power. Hearing this, the Molecule Man transfers the Beyonders' power to Mister Fantastic, which destroys Battleworld. In the wake of the destruction, the Black Panther uses the Reality Gem to recreate and teleport himself to Wakanda. There, he finds three Wakandan prodigies (the same he talked to in New Avengers #1) to whom he tasks with granting wisdom to the stars.
Miles Morales awakens on the restored Earth-616, now known as Marvel's Earth Prime, along with his friends and his mother (who was brought back to life by the Molecule Man as gratitude for giving him a hamburger). Still shaken by the recent events, Miles goes on patrol with Peter as Spider-Man. Meanwhile, Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Valeria, Franklin, the members of Future Foundation, and Molecule Man work to restore the Multiverse one reality at a time. In Latveria, Doctor Doom removes his mask, reveals his face is no longer disfigured, and laughs with joy.
Battleworld
Following numerous incursions across the multiverse, the remains of various realities have been fused together to create a new Battleworld. Each domain is the incursion point from that reality's destruction, as this is all that remains from each one. All of these realities are known as domains and have the ability to interact with each other, except for three: the Deadlands, Perfection and New Xandar. These domains are separated from the rest by a giant wall called the Shield because they contain threats that, if set loose, would destroy all the others: zombies, Ultron drones, creatures that make up the Annihilation Wave, and an alternate reality version of Thanos trying to reconstruct the Infinity Gauntlet.
Each domain has an appointed leader called a Baron, who runs their domain with permission from God Emperor Doom, the Lord and Messiah of Battleworld. To ensure all domains remain separate from each other, the Thor Corps have been formed (containing all alternate versions of Thor) and they act as a police force for Battleworld under the leadership of Sheriff Strange. Those who transgress the borders are sent to the Shield to work there whilst those who spectacularly break this rule are sent into exile over the Shield into one of the three dangerous domains.
Battleworld is one of the three celestial bodies in its universe. The second celestial body and Battleworld's source of light is revealed to be the Human Torch himself who acts as the "Sun" after being lifted into the sky during the early days of Battleworld's creation and where he still remains trapped as punishment for acting against God Emperor Doom. The Sun orbits Battleworld instead of the other way around. The third celestial body is Knowhere, which orbits Battleworld as its "Moon". Apart from these celestial bodies, there were no other stars, until Singularity, a mysterious young girl who actually represents a pocket universe that gained sentience during the multiversal collapse, appeared to give her life to save the citizens of Arcadia from a horde of zombies, which returned the stars to its universe.
The reality where Battleworld was fashioned has since been dubbed as Earth-15513.
X-Men Disassembled
During a battle with Nate Grey, Legion tries to send him back to his universe, however, things don't go as Legion planned and instead he ended banishing not only X-Man, but Armor, Pixie, Glob, Rockslide and himself to the Age of Apocalypse universe that exists on Legion's mindscape.
X-Men: The End
In the alternate future in the X-Men: The End series written by Chris Claremont, M is a member of the XSE and a critical part of the hastily marshalled forces attempting to defeat Mister Sinister.
The series begins with Aliyah Bishop, an heir to the Shi'ar throne and the daughter of Lucas Bishop and Deathbird (the princess of the Shi'ar Empire and sister to Lilandra), in her sentient ship, the Starjammer (which is inhabited by the spirit of Carol Danvers). Aliyah is flying through space when she witnesses a Kree dreadnought entering orbit around a planet. Deciding to investigate, she lands on the planet to discover that a coalition of Slavers (multi-dimensional traders of everything) have brokered a deal with the Kree for the Phoenix Egg which the Kree hope to use against the Shi'ar. Realizing the danger to her people, Aliyah knows that she must warn the Shi'ar, but she is attacked by the Slavers' brainwashed mutant bodyguards, the Hounds. Just as that happens, Shi'ar warships appear in space and start attacking the Kree ship in orbit. The Kree on the planet attempt to flee, when it is revealed that one of their troops is a Skrull agent who proceeds to destroy the Kree landing-transport. As the Slavers' decide to make a hasty retreat through their interdimensional portal, Brood eggs begin to land and hatch on the planet, killing any remaining Kree troops and going after Aliyah. Meanwhile, the Phoenix Egg hatches, revealing Jean Grey, the previous bearer of the Phoenix Force. Jean Grey helps Aliyah escape onto her ship, saving Nightcrawler's enslaved alternate reality daughter, Nocturne. Both the Shi'ar and the Brood are apparently after a new stargate network.
Aliyah engages her ship to warp speed inside the planet's atmosphere, which destroys the planet, as well as its star and all ships in orbit. Jean Grey saves the Starjammer by manifesting the Phoenix Force. This discharge is noted by several parties: Scott and Emma Summers, their four children; Rachel Grey, campaign manager for Kitty Pryde's Chicago mayoral election campaign; Professor X; Cable; Wolverine and Storm, living in a house in Kenya; and Mister Sinister who notes that all the pieces are finally back on the board to allow him to restart his plans for world domination.
It is revealed that Sinister had himself made a deal with the Slavers for the Phoenix Egg, and he becomes rather upset at the Slavers' representative for forgetting all the help he had given them with genetic samples of mutants (including the X-Men). Sinister sends his minions (Shaitan, Divinity, TechnarX, Shakti, and Scalphunter) to kill most X-Force members, including Cable — seemingly succeeding in killing all but a few (Feral, Rictor, and Domino survive). Cable is infected with a techno-organic virus (via TechnarX).
Shi'ar Empress Lilandra Neramani orders Phoenix destroyed once more. Her Lord Chancellor makes his own plans and orders the X-Men killed. He sends shapeshifting Warskrulls to Earth. Warskrulls attack every X-Man on Earth, including Storm and Wolverine in Africa, Emma Frost and Rogue in California, and Iceman and Sage at X-Corp headquarters. Emma and Rogue survive only to realize that Rogue's home has been attacked and both Emma's (and Scott's) and Rogue's (and Gambit's) children have been taken, apparently, by Mister Sinister, with Gambit seemingly betraying his wife and team to deliver the children to Sinister in person.
The first series ends with an attack on the Xavier Institute by Stryfe, Genesis, and Madelyne Pryor, all of whom turn out to be Warskrulls (except, as revealed only in Book 3, Madelyne). As the X-Men at Xavier's try to defend themselves, the deaths of many students and staff ensue. The mansion is once again destroyed with an explosion so large that it takes a large area of the landscape and all of the mansion's lower levels with it. Only a few students and X-Men escape.
Book 2: Heroes and Martyrs
The story begins at the ruins of the Xavier institute. Where the estate once resided, it has been replaced with a mile-wide crater. Northstar, having saved Cyclops, dies from internal injuries. It is revealed that he joins the rest of the original Alpha Flight in the hereafter. Kitty Pryde returns to Chicago, to continue her campaign for mayor. The X-Men and their allies quickly regroup, but they almost immediately all come under attack by the next wave of War Skrulls. During the strategic attack on all of the various groups across the globe, the Skrulls are barely repelled while the X-Men experience heavy losses.
It is revealed that Sinister wants Rogue's and Emma's children as genetic stock for the future, since he has concluded the X-Men are hopeless.
In space Nocturne is cured by Phoenix with the help of Nightcrawler, whom she brought aboard the Starjammer in the first book. It is revealed, in the process of freeing Nocturne's mind, that Lilandra (by brokering a deal with the Slavers for a Brood queen from a dimension where the Brood were not extinct) is responsible for the Brood returning to this dimension. Lilandra was able to accomplish this, in part, by allowing her captured sister to act as the host for the Brood Queen. Both Lilandra and the Slavers made this arrangement in order to defeat Khan (see X-Treme X-Men) (who threatened Lilandra's throne and Slavers' trade routes in this dimension). Aliyah learns of this the hard way by wandering into a dark (i.e., depowered) section of her ship and being attacked by Deathbird/Brood queen (who was stowed away on the ship for years). In the resulting battle, Aliyah is forced to kill her mother (but not before Aliyah is infected by the Brood Queen, something that no one on board the ship notices when she returns to the bridge).
Cyclops sends Wolverine, X-23, M, and Marvel Girl to find Sinister, Gambit, and the abducted children. The heroes manage to find their way to Sinister's hidden base but are immediately immobilized by an attack from Lady Mastermind. All live out their fantasies until Wolverine, who is inspired by the astral form of Jean Grey to fight, does so. He breaks free of the mind control and helps the others break free. They all charge deeper into Sinister's base.
Gambit has indeed been faking cooperation with Sinister, only doing so in order to protect the children. After Sinister reveals his own history and the fact that Gambit is actually a clone from his and Cyclops's genetic makeup, Gambit decides enough is enough and goes to rescue the children. As they make their escape, most of the children are teleported back to Earth, while Gambit and his daughter are teleported to the moon, near Sinister's mutant prison Neverland. Rogue rescues her son and Emma's children from they were teleported.
Back at Sinister's base, Rogue has joined the fray (caused by Wolverine and others) and kills one of Sinister's minions. Before she can rejoin her loved ones, she is slain by Sinister who was masquerading as Gambit. Gambit is able to use the portal to get back to Sinister's base just in time to see Sinister killing Rogue. They say their final farewells before Rogue dies. Mystique arrives, revealing that she had been pretending to be Dark Beast (who was in service of Sinister) all along, and she exacts her revenge for the loss of her foster daughter Rogue by killing Sinister. Gambit urges Mystique to finally meet her grandchildren and keep them safe. Gambit takes Sinister's place for a meeting with the true mastermind behind the attacks on the X-Men, the Shi'ar.
Book 2 comes to a close with Kitty debating her opponent Alice Tremaine (head of the anti-mutant Purity Movement) and receiving the news that the X-Men are going into space to face the Shi'ar.
Book 3: Men and X-Men
X-Men (including Professor X and Magneto, in person) take the battle to the Shi'ar. It is revealed that Khan is Lord Chancellor of the Shi'Ar empire, i.e., the administrator of law, with Lilandra being just the figurehead after being driven insane by Cassandra Nova. It was his plan to destroy the X-Men and kill Lilandra to get the Shi'ar throne. Gambit, however, instantly recognizes Khan - they battle and end up killing each other.
As the X-Men (Cyclops, X-23, M, Captain Britain, and a few others arriving through the wormhole created by Magneto and his daughter, Lorna) begin to battle Lilandra's guard on Chandilar (the Imperial Shi'ar throneworld), the Starjammer arrives in orbit. Storm, Iceman, and a few others form a Plan B contingent and fly to Chandilar in an X-Jet via a space portal.
It is revealed that Cassandra Nova is the mastermind behind everything. She has been hiding in Xavi, the son of Lilandra and Xavier, all this time. She begins to reveal herself to everyone involved, starting with Xavier (who, thinking she was inhabiting Lilandra, mistakenly kills her). On the Starjammer, the Brood eggs have multiplied thanks to Aliyah and have begun landing on the Shi'ar's home planet. Also, Cassandra reveals herself to the Phoenix through Aliyah's mind. The Brood, having made a deal with Cassandra, begin attacking X-Men.
Cassandra Nova attacks the X-Men and the Shi'ar Imperial Guard. She then begins to erase Xavier's mind. Marvel Girl summons her residual Phoenix Force energies and engages Cassandra in psychic battle. Meanwhile, Cable uses his vast telekinetic powers to fight Cassandra on the physical level, but succumbs to his techno-organic virus he was infected with as a baby and re-infected with in book one.
Jean Grey, once again the Phoenix, uses her powers to heal Cable, when, suddenly, she (and Cyclops) are killed by a psionic blast fired by a mind-controlled Marvel Girl. Cassandra's astral form leaps out of Marvel Girl's mind, and merges with the Phoenix Force. Cassandra begins killing the Imperial Guard, and Dazzler fires a laser beam through Cassandra's forehead, burning a hole in it, while Storm and Iceman hit her with their elemental powers. However, Cassandra rises from defeat and, in a form of divine punishment, blows a hole through Dazzler and turns Iceman's and Storm's powers against them, killing Storm as well. Only Madelyne Pryor, who has been impersonating Dust (thanks to her black niqāb) all along, after killing her in Book 1, stands in her way. Madelyne reveals that she is the part of Jean Grey that loved Scott with all her heart, and that was the reason that Cyclops' and Jean's marriage failed. Madelyne turns into energy and fuses with Jean Grey, who awakens and heals Cyclops.
As Jean Grey (still able to access some of her Phoenix powers) and Nova fight, Psylocke enters the fray and plunges her psi-katana in Cassandra's brain, immobilizing her. Jean Grey tells Cassandra that they are all going to transcend reality. Jean resurrects all of the defeated/dead X-Men, bringing some with her to become one with the universe while bringing others back to Earth. Xavier and Cassandra admit that they are scared of each other, and Jean tells them that this is part of being human. Then, she and the resurrected X-Men form a giant Phoenix and become part of the universe itself.
The remaining X-Men not part of the Phoenix are seen 20 years later, when Katherine Pryde becomes President of the United States. It is revealed that she not only became Mayor, but a Governor as well. Alice Tremaine arrives in the Oval Office and makes peace with Kitty, admitting she was wrong about her and about mutantkind. Kitty formally disbands the X-Men, saying that they were their own worst enemy, and that it was time for something new. She emphasizes this is not an end, but a beginning.
In the final frames as Kitty makes a speech, Wolverine is shown together with Psylocke, and X-23 behind him. Emma Frost is shown with her grown up children. Mystique is shown with her two grandchildren, Gambit's son is holding a baby. Beast is shown with Cecilia Reyes and their three children. Iceman and Magma are shown together. Sam Guthrie (Cannonball) is shown with his wife, Lila Cheney, and their trio of children. Kurt Wagner, Nightcrawler, is shown with his wife and two children. Aliya Bishop, now the Majestrix of the Shi'Ar is shown with her father, Lucas Bishop, now an Imperial Chancellor. Jean Grey (Phoenix), Marvel Girl, Gambit and Rogue, Havok and Lorna, Alpha Flight, Professor X and Cassandra, Storm, Archangel with Husk, Cyclops, Madelyne, Dust, Cable, Lilandra, Sage, Colossus, Hub, and a few others are shown above the crowd looking down from the other side, as it were.
In other media
Film
Penance appears in the television film Generation X, portrayed by Amarilis. This version displayed no psionic powers.
In X2: X-Men United, Penance's name appears on a file while Mystique is going through the files on William Stryker's computer.
References
External links
World of Black Heroes: Monet Biography
Marvel Universe Character Bio Wiki
Uncannyxmen.net Spotlight On...M
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