Previously on Muir Island New Mutants...

[Charles Warren]

ISSUE 44

Billy's spell goes wrong and he teleports a Sentinel robot into the x-jet, causing it to rip apart in mid-air. Savant is able to rip the x-jet free of the Sentinel in time for Blindside to use his whirlwind power to set the back half of the jet down safely.

With the help of Iceman, the Muir Island New Mutants take out the two Sentinels. But the New York is still under siege by the Sentinels now that they have gone wild. They see that others heroes have come out to help. Spider-Man, Thor, Iron Man, Captain America and the Fantastic Four.

Beast decides that they need to try to get the Sentinels to stop attacking. He asks the New Mutants to bring him an intact Sentinel Head.

Blindside encounters the She-Thing and asks for her to call in the rest of the Fantastic Four. Reed Richards locates Briar Patch and they formulate a plan.

A Sentinel is lured into Times Square where the New Mutants defeat it. Then, Beast, Mister Fantastic and Savant hack into the Sentinel communication network and altar their code so that they will stop attacking.

The Fantastic Four sneak the mutants back to X-Factor Headquarters and Mister Fantastic vows to continue to work against the Mutant Registration Act.

Three days later, the Muir Island New Mutants, with Emma Frost and Wolverine, visit the Hellfire Club. Sebastian Shaw tells them that he wants Emma Frost to take Magneto's place as a Lord Cardinal of the Inner Circle.

They go down to the secret lower levels where the proceedings begin to remove Magneto as the current White King.

The issue ends with the players sitting in a meeting with the three remaining Lords Cardinal: Sebastian Shaw, the Black King; Selene, the Black Queen; and to their surprise, Madelyne Pryor, the Red Queen!

[Charles Warren]

Madelyne Pryor, Red Queen of the Hellfire Club

ISSUE 45

Wolverine, Emma Frost and the Muir Island New Mutants arrive at the New York Hellfire Club Mansion to meet with Sebastian Shaw.

Shaw informs them that a meeting of the secret Hellfire Club Inner Circle is about to take place. Magneto is going to be voted out of his office as the White King. Shaw wants Emma Frost to replace him as the White Queen.

Shaw escorts everyone into the dungeon-like lower levels of the Hellfire Club mansion to an audience chamber. Approximately 60 robed figures sit in front of a raised stage. On the stage is a table with four high-backed chairs, where the Lord Cardinals of the Inner Circle officiate. Two chairs are empty. Two robed women sit in the occupied ones.

The players are also given robes to conceal themselves and are seated in the front row, where seats have been reserved for them. The room is lit by torches and the Hellfire Club emblem is everywhere. It looks like a 17th Century cult meeting.Shaw moves up to his seat beside the first woman on the council. She removes her hood, revealing pale skin and jet black hair. Emma Frost tells you that this is Selene, the Black Queen. She is a psychic vampire.

Selene smirks at Shaw and says, “Ah, Shaw. So good of you to join us. We nearly had to start without you.”

Shaw doesn’t even look at her as he sits down, but replies imperiously, “Then its fortunate for you that you didn’t, Selene.”

Shaw motions to everyone gathered that the proceedings are now beginning.

Shaw says, “ Now that I am here, let's get to business.”

Selene gives him a regal nod and then turns to address the gathering.

“Very well,” she begins. “The matter at hand. The White King. Magneto. By his reckless and very public recent actions, he has proven himself unsuitable for the position of the White King. The attention he has brought to himself has endangered the Inner Circle. I, the Black Queen, move that he be removed from office and that a replacement member be instated into the Inner Circle.

A murmur passes through the robed figures in the audience.

“The Black King agrees,” says Shaw, making a steeple of his fingers. Then he looks to the second woman sitting at the Lords Cardinal table. “And what say you, our Red Queen?”

The Red Queen slowly lowers her hood. But she is not looking at Shaw. Instead her full attention is on Joule. Once her hood is lowered, it can be seen that the Red Queen is Madelyne Pryor, formerly known as the Goblin Queen.

“The Red Queen also approves of the motion,” she says, although her eyes never leave Joule.

More excited murmurs fill the room.

As soon as Fiona realizes that Pryor is there, she lashes out at Emma Frost in the mental link.

"WHAT THE HELL? DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS YOU WITCH? HOW DARE YOU!" before using her Psi-screen power to shatter the contact with everyone else. Tears well up in her eyes and a small, but noticeable tremble take her chin and lower lip as she fights her emotions back. It takes a moment to compose herself, but she does it without much notice from the crowd around her. She sits with her hands in her lap and her eyes locked with her mother's ignoring the rest of the team and refusing any attempts to re-establish the team link.

After Fionna cuts the psi-link, Emma Frost leans to her and whisper, "Fionna. I had no idea..." But then, Shaw calls her forward and she doesn't have a chance to elaborate.

Shaw bangs a gavel onto the desk and says, “As Magneto is not here to object, nor is there anyone here to defend his position, he is hereby removed from the office of the White King.” He bangs the gavel down again.

Once the murmurs of the crowd subsides, Shaw continues.

“Now,” he begins. “On to the matter of his replacement.” He looks to Emma and then commandingly out over the gathered audience. “ I, Sebastian Shaw, the Black King of the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club, nominate Emma Frost to resume her former position of White Queen.”

This causes quite a stir among those gathered. Shaw motions and Emma steps forward. She casts off her robe, revealing her old White Queen uniform.

Shaw continues: For many years, Ms. Frost held the position quite satisfactorily, even distinguishing herself by establishing and training the next generation of Inner Circle members, the Hellions.

Selene cuts in snidely. “Until her work with the Hellions became too consuming, and she neglected her duties as White Queen!”
Shaw waves his hand dismissively. “Do I hear a second?”

Immediately, the large bearded man from Shaw’s office rises. "I, Harry Leland, the Black Bishop, second the motion.”

Shaw looks around the room. “And a third?”

Selene clears her throat and then says, “Forgive my impertinence, Shaw, but I think Frost's time has passed. It is time for new blood. New ambition. And new power.”

Selene motions to the door and white-wigged servants move to open it.

Selene rises and says, “May I present to you my nominee for White King. Daimon Hellstrom! Formerly known as the Son of Satan!”
Hellstrom strides in imperiously, flames flickering off of his body. He carries a tall trident in his hand.

“It is a nomination that I gladly accept,” says Hellstrom as he moves to stand in front of Selene.

Selene gives Shaw a wicked smile and then turns to the audience. “Do I hear a second?” she asks.
Immediately, and odd, plump, but feral looking man rises.

“I, Friedrich Von Roehm, Black Rook of the Hellfire Club, second your motion.”
Selene glares victoriously at Shaw, but another man rises. He is a dark-skinned Hispanic man, with a ruthless and tyrannical look about him.

The man says, “With all due respect, I address the Lords Cardinal.”

Shaw frowns, clearly unhappy. But he says, “We recognize the White Rook, Emmanuel De Costa.”

“In the absence of a White King, it is my right to nominate a replacement,” De Costa continues. “I therefore I wish to recommend someone whose power and influence will greatly strengthen the Hellfire Club. May I present to you, ladies and gentlemen, Count Lucino Nefaria, who represents a majority of the Maggia's influence both here and abroad.”

A seated figure rises and removes his robe, revealing a man in a super-suit. He gazes pridefully at the Lord Cardinal. This elicits perhaps the most activity in the crowd.

The crowd grows quiet as a younger, Hispanic man rises and says, “I, Roberto Da Costa, the White Knight, second the motion.”
The room erupts into discussion.

Shaw sits back in his throne, rage boiling in his eyes. But he says nothing. He merely shares a glance with Emma Frost.

Selene looks at all three candidates before her eyes rest on Daimon Hellstrom. A slight smile curls upon her lips.

Madelyne Pryor seems unconcerned with the proceedings around her. She continues to watch Joule, almost as if trying to communicate something with her eyes.

Finally, Shaw bangs his gavel, until the room falls silent. He doesn’t appear happy, but he still exudes the sense that he is in control.
When the room is silent again, Shaw says, “The three nominees will step forward.”

Emma Frost, Daimon Hellstrom, and Count Nefaria step before the Lords Cardinal. Shaw gazes down at them for a long moment, then speaks.
“As is our custom, we shall recess until our next meeting, at which time a final vote among the inner circle will determine the official nominee to be submitted for the Lord Cardinal’s endorsement.

Shaw then bangs the gavel so hard that it breaks. Its head clatters on stone floor as Shaw rises immediately and storms out of the room.
Selene doesn’t move, but folds her hands in front of her and eyes Emma Frost with a cold stare. Madelyne Pryor pulls her hood down again and fades into the shadows behind the Lord Cardinal’s table.

The crowd starts to disperse, amid furious discussion.

Emma’s voice is suddenly in your head.

“Follow me, everyone,” she says telepathically. “Shaw wishes to speak to us. Stay close and trust no one.” Emma leads back to the stone staircase that leads up to Shaw’s Library.

Shaw greets everyone. Wolverine tells Shaw that he's not happy about the situation. The X-Men came here to talk about an alliance, not to get shoved in the middle of Hellfire politics.

Shaw apologizes, but says it was necessary. He begins introducing himself to everyone, but Joule cuts him off and tells him to get to the point.

Shaw does. He tells everyone that with Magneto gone, it creates a power vacuum in the Inner Circle. Shaw's position is weakened because Magneto represented Shaw's alliance with the X-Men. Now, Shaw's taken another hit with the Sentinel attack on New York. He reveals that Shaw Industries is the sole producer of Sentinels for the government and that there is a huge backlash due to his Sentinels malfunctioning. He is adapting though, and is going to produce Sentinel machines designed for human pilots.

He wants to ally once more with the X-Men and he wants Emma Frost to take Magneto's place as the White Queen. In return, he will program all of his Sentinels to ignore the X-Men. He will also help them find the missing X-Men, beginning with Psylocke.

After some debate, Wolverine, Emma, and the New Mutants agree to help him, but secretly are waiting for his betrayal.

Shaw goes over the current political climate in the Hellfire Club and explains how Emma will need to win the majority of 13 votes among the Inner Circle members.

It is decided that the New Mutants will try to influence the voters, while Wolverine and Emma keep a low profile.

Joule asks Shaw to arrange a meeting with the Red Queen and he agrees.

The New Mutants are shown to their rooms and almost immediately they are approached by a demon from the Red Queen. It opens a portal to Limbo where they are met by Madelyne Pryor. She is overjoyed to see her daughter and begins to tell her side of the story.

She explains that after the events of Inferno, she died. But somehow returned to life. She doesn't know how. When she returned, she learned that Scott and Jean were together and that her son had been sent to the future.

She tracked down Mister Sinister, in order to get revenge on him, but she discovered he had made a clone/daughter of her: Fionna. She stole Fionna away, deciding to her daughter someplace that Sinister could not get to her. She travelled into the past and gave the child to Moira MacTaggert. She implanted false memories in Fionna and Moira and others to make them think that she was Moira's daughter. Madelyne planned to come get Fionna after her plans were complete.

When asked about her plans, Madelyne tells them that she is attempting to assemble the Mystical Tarot of Thoth into the Tablet of the Destinies. Once she possesses the Tablet of the Destinies, she will try to summon the Phoenix Force. Then with the Phoenix Force, she plans to destroy the universe and remake it how it is supposed to be: Jean Grey will not exist and she, Scott, Fionna and her son Nathaniel will all be together.

The New Mutants quickly realize she is unstable, but they still negotiate with her for her vote for Emma Frost. Madelyne agrees to vote for Emma Frost and to assure the vote of the Red Rook, if the New Mutants will give her the three Tarot cards they have on Muir Island. They agree. As they leave, Madelyne also tells them that she would like to see Fionna regularly. Fionna says she would like that too.

The New Mutants go back to their rooms in the Hellfire Club Mansion and are greeted with an invitation to meet with Shinobi Shaw. They agree and take a limo to a high rise building where he owns an entire floor that is decked out like a night club.

The issue ends with him greeting them at the entrance and saying, "Welcome to the Upstarts."

[Charles Warren]

The Juggernaut

ISSUE 46

Shinobi Shaw welcomes the Muir Island New Mutants to his private club and escorts them up to the VIP level. There he introduces them to his fellow Upstarts, Trevor Fitzroy and Sienna Blaze.

He then warns the Muir Island New Mutants that his father, Sebastian Shaw, is only using them as pawns. Shinobi says that his father needed to garner Madelyne Pryor's votes for the Lords Imperial election. He knew that she was obsessed with Joule, and told her that he would bring her to see her in New York in exchange for her support. Shinobi then tries to convince the players that they should ignore Hellfire Club politics. Instead, they should join the Upstarts and enjoy the pleasures that being a rich mutant can provide.

The Muir Island New Mutants don't seem too thrilled by either prospect.

Shinobi decides to show them the unique games that the Upstarts play. He summons the Gamesmaster, who begins one of the Upstarts' games. The Gamesmaster invites everyone to open their minds too him, but only Blindside, Fluxand Joule agree. They are brought into a telepathic link and Shinobi gives them some psychic points to bet with.

Somehow, the Gamesmaster teleports the Juggernaut out of his cell in the UK super-prison known as Crossmore Prison. He makes the Juggernaut reappear in downtown New York, where he begins to smash the city until Thor arrives to stop him.

The Upstarts and the participating New Mutants begin to bet over who will win between Thor and the Juggernaut. Briar Patch transfers his consciousness into a plant nearby Thor and grows a new body there, so he can help him. During the fight, Briar Patch turns into an algae form and flows into the Juggernaut's helmet. This interferes with the Juggernaut's ability to see and hear. But still, the Juggernaut ends up knocking out Thor.

Fractal decides to teleport Juggernaut (and Briar Patch) into the VIP room, causing a panic. Fractal convinces Juggernaut to attack Shinobi and the Juggernaut says he will, if Fractal will get the algae out of his helmet. Briar Patch cooperates and pours himself out of the helmet. Juggernaut turns to attack Shinobi, but Savant steps between him and convinces him to pause. Joule moves Shinobi and Shaw out of harm's way with her kinetic field, then Blindside evacuates everyone from the VIP balcony and down to the main level of the club.

Blindside then zips back up to Juggernaut and places in front of him two bottles of fine whiskey. Juggernaut decides to taka moment and enjoy himself and downs the whiskey.

Meanwhile, Flux sets off the fire sprinklers, causing everyone to flee the club, including Fitzroy and Blaze.

Finally, by himself, the Juggernaut decides to sit down and enjoy all the free booze. Flux deactivates the sprinklers. The Muir Island New Mutants all make Shinobi feel even worse with their comments before they leave him alone in the club with Juggernaut.

Briar Patch calls the police to tell them where Juggernaut is.

The Muir Island New Mutants get back into the white stretch limo and begin driving back to the Hellfire Club. On the drive back, they begin to debate what to do next. No one seems to be happy to be working with the Hellfire Club, but no one can quite agree on their next step.

Halfway to the Hellfire Club, something smashes the front of their limo, flipping it upside down. The Muir Island New Mutants quickly don their uniforms and crawl out of the car. There they are confronted by the Absorbing Man, Titania, Crush, and Volcana.

The Absorbing Man tells them that someone has paid him a lot of money to trash them.

[the game session ends here]

[Charles Warren]

The Absorbing Man

ISSUE 47

The Muir Island New Mutants offer to pay the Absorbing Man double what he was paid to "take them out," but he refuses. Savant goads him into telling them that he was paid 4 million dollars and a trip to Bora Bora.

When negotiations fail, Bullet traps Absorbing Man in a force field bubble. Savant uses her telescoping staff to leap over to
Titania . With a series of quick strikes, she hit Titania's pressure points, stunning her. Flux disrupts the mechanism inside each of the villains' headbands, disabling their psychic shields.

Blindside tries to reason with Volcana, but when she doesn't listen, he slices her plasma form with his Acroyear blade. Bullet snaps his fingers and says sleep, shutting down Volcana's mind. She becomes a molten puddle on the asphalt, then turns back into her human form.

Crushattacks Joule with her chain, but Joule redirects the kinetic energy, sending Crush crashing against Absorbing Man, shattering Bullet's force field.

Absorbing Man smashes the street in front of Joule with his wrecking ball, smacking her with chunks of the street. Briar Patch, is enraged when he learns the limo driver has been killed, hurls Titania into a nearby transformer, rendering her unconscious and taking out the power for blocks.

Savant leaps over to Crush and knocks her out with a blow to the head from her staff. Fractal tries to nullify Absorbing Man's powers, but realizes he is not a mutant.

With Absorbing Man the last villain standing, the New Mutants again try to talk him down, but he is even more angry now.

Flux conjures water and threatens to drown Titania and Crush, if Absorbing Man doesn't surrender. Absorbing Man gives in. He drops the bar of vibranium on to the ground and then reverts to human form. But instead of ending the fight, Joule says "take him out."

Joule streaks towards Absorbing Man as if to strike him, but at the last minute executes a sonic slam. Absorbing Man absorbs the sonic energy and his body becomes living sound waves. He gloats, saying the New Mutants have screwed up now. But Joule remembers that vibranium can absorb sonic waves. Flux tosses the bar of vibranium to Blindside who runs through Absorbing Man with it. Absorbing Man screams in anger as he is sucked into the bar of vibranium.

The New Mutants collect the four villains and relocate to an empty warehouse that Briar Patch has scoped out. Before they are able to conduct their interrogation, they are telepathically contacted by Emma Frost who tells them that Sebastian Shaw wants to speak with them immediately.

Shaw is angry. Someone has broken into one of his Sentinel research and development centers and stolen the plans for a prototype sentinel. He trusts no one in the Hellfire Club or in Shaw Industries, so he demands that the New Mutants go investigate. But the New Mutants are tired of being other people's pawns. They argue with him, but eventually decide to go to the research facility.

Bullet and Briar Patch stay behind to interrogate the captured villains, while the others board a Shaw Industries jet that will take them to the research center in Puerto Rico.

Bullet and Briar Patch learn that Absorbing Man and his crew were hired by an anonymous shapeshifting robot. Once they get all the information they need out of them, Briar Patch calls the Avengers and speaks to Vision. He tells Vision where to pick up the Absorbing Man. When Vision learns that they are mutants, he warns them that he would have to arrest them if he saw them. Briar Patch says they will be gone by the time the Avengers get there. Briar Patch and Bullet go to see a movie. But Briar Patch joins the other New Mutants with in a plant duplicate body, while Bullet joins them telepathically.

Once the New Mutants arrive at the El Molar Research Facility, they learn that it wasn't only the plans that were stolen. A prototype sentinel was also taken. They begin to telepathically interrogate the security staff, but when they summon a guard named Benitez, he runs for it. Bullet catches him, but a kill-switch implant in his skull fries his brain before he can give the New Mutants any information.

The New Mutants go to Lab 3, where Head Engineer Dr. Batiste is very aggravated by their interference. But in the end, he agrees to give them information on what was stolen. He hands them the schematics and the players learn that the sentinel prototype that was stolen was actually Nimrod.

Just as this realization sinks in, the sentinel robots lined up against the wall, activate and begin to fire at everyone, the engineers and the New Mutants!

[Charles Warren]

Prototype Sentinels attack the New Mutants at the El Molar Research Facility

ISSUE 48

The issue begins with Bullet sitting in a dark movie theater in New York City next to Briar Patch's collapsing body. Bullet gets up and leaves the theater.

Meanwhile, in Puerto Rico, six 8 foot tall sentinel robots have activated and begin spraying the room with energy blasts. Dr. Batiste hides behind a console, while Salvador is frozen in fear. Milagros runs for the door.

Fractal begins to cast a spell, but is interrupted as his arm is hit by an energy blast. The spell goes awry and Fractal and Joule disappear!

Although, Bullet is in New York, he is telepathically connected to the other New Mutants through their team link. He concentrates and uses his precognitive ability to see what might happen in the future. He detects that the experimental sentinel power core in the lab will get hit and explode. He warns the team to avoid it.

Flux turns to stone form, to protect herself from incoming Blaster fire but also shielding the security guards and scientists who were diving for cover or running for the door.

Blindside creates a whirlwind that pushes the Sentinels back towards the walls throwing off their aim and giving the humans and the New Mutants time to react.

Savant is acrobatically back flipping and spinning her staff to deflect a number of blaster bolts protecting the scientists.

Briar Patch, waking up in a room down the hall, is brought information about the fight by Bullet's team link. Using spores that he had planted throughout the facility Briar Patch causes a forest of giant sized mushrooms to grow down the hall and through the doors in to fill the room where the Sentinels are, to provide more cover and throw off their aim.

Bullet uses his precognition to detect that someone is hacking into the Sentinels and has given them the command to detonate the Sentinel power core at the far end of the room. If it detonates, it will destroy the entire facility. Bullet telepathically guides the team to protect the core!

Savant takes up position in front of the power core, deflecting energy bolts, while Flux causes the wall behind it to open, and Blindside circles the core, and dashes out of the hole in the wall, pulling the core in his inertial wake, so that it detonates in the jungle a few hundred yards away. A giant mushroom in the room turns humanoid, and Briar Patch shifts species into Oak Tree Hybrid.

Bullet's vision reveals that the hacker has instructed the Sentinels to kill the human scientists and guards (presumably to eliminate their knowledge, and cover tracks). He orders a hot dog from a street vendor, and with his mouth full, Coordinates the defense of the facility staff.

The Sentinels advance into the room of giant mushrooms, blasting and activating energy fists. Savant and Flux Engage with skill and speed, drawing the attacks away from fleeing humans. Briar Patch grows to 18 feet tall, and absorbing the blow of an energy first, roadblocks another. Blindside whips into the room, collecting all scientists and guards, and carries them away to safety.

Bullet gets tired of dodging people on the busy streets of New York, and generates a disk of force, steps on it and floats above the crowd. He also sees that, with their primary targets gone, the Sentinels will seek to kill the New Mutants, in order to pursue the scientists.

The Sentinels self repair systems restore them after the abuse taken by their clash with the New Mutants. But . . . Without any humans to protect, Alpha team doesn't need to hold back!

Blindside creates a cyclone, flipping, crashing, and smashing the Sentinels into each other, floor, ceiling, and walls, breaching their armor. Flux with explosions of Flame, and Briar Patch with giant fists and stomping, finish of the robots in short order with the assistance of Savant who escorts Dr. Batiste to the command center. There she breaks a computer virus hack that was locking out the commands to shut down the robots. Once the irus is taken out, the scientist was able to complete the shutdown.

Dr. Batiste realizes that the players are mutants, but is grateful for their rescue and vows to change professions.

Savant clears the virus from the factory computer system and traces the hack back to a graduate student at M.I.T named Simon Noble. She leaves some spyware in the computer network and the New Mutants head back to San Juan to fly to Massachusetts.

Bullet arrives on the M.I.T campus first and watches Noble from afar. When the other players arrive, they see Noble exiting from his residence hall nervously.

Bullet calms him down psychically and Savant meets him, using her charm to convince him she is one of his students. She asks for some study help, but he says he's in the middle of something. She convinces him to let her tag along.

Noble takes Savant to the robotics lab of Dr. French. Savant remains outside, while Noble goes in to see her. Noble tells Dr. French that he's lost contact with the El Molar Research Facility computer system, which makes him think his virus has been compromised. Dr. French calls someone to report this. Flux, in air form, eavesdrops on the conversation and realizes she has just called Shinobi Shaw.

A sniper shoots through the window and kills Dr. French. Flux creates a fire shield to protect Noble. Blindside uses his inertia field to transport himself, Bullet and Briar Patch to the adjacent roof, where they find the mutant mercenary group known as the Femme Fatales.

END OF ISSUE

[Charles Warren]

The Femme Fatales

ISSUE 49

The issue begins with Fractal and Joule floating in an interdimensional space, having been transported there by Billy's misfired spell. "Great job, Billy," says Joule flatly. Billy continues to try to cast a spell that will transport them back to the others. He detects Flux and tries to use her as an anchor. But when he casts the spell, Flux is yanked into the void with Billy, while Joule is transported to Flux's last position.

Joule appears over one of the buildings at the Massachusett's Institute of Technology. On the rooftop of the next building, the Femme Fatales are lined up to face off with her. Behind them stand Blindside, Bullet and Briar Patch (who has possessed Vanessa, the Shaw corporate rep)

Joule asks if they are fighting these guys, and Blindside says yea. Viper snaps some orders for the Femme Fatales to secure the primary target. Bullet immediately fires a wide angle telekinetic beam at them all. Viper teleports away, while Bloodlust does a backward somersault to avoid it, and crashes through a window in the next MIT building. Knockout braces herself and takes the brunt of the blast. But, Mindblast, Sapphire Styx, and Snake Whip are knocked off of the roof.

Meanwhile, inside Dr. French's office, Savant grabs Simon Noble and tries to get him to safety. She rushes his him to the nearest stairwell and they jump down to bottom level.

Briar Patch/Vanessa wades in and tries to strike Knockout, but she grabs Vanessa's arm in a block. The force of the blow still causes Knockout to be pushed back along the rooftop.

Joule uses her kinetic control to catch Snake Whip, Mindblast, and Sapphire Styx before they hit the ground.

Viper appears at the top of the stairwell, holding a gun to the temple of a female student. She tells Savant to let Simon go, or she'll kill the girl. Savant pushes Noble to the side and interposes herself in front of him with her staff to guard him. Viper smiles and pushes the girl over the balcony and she begins to fall. Blindside uses his superspeed to get to the stairwell and catch the girl.

Knockout exchanges powerful blows with Briar Patch/Vanessa, but neither get in any good hits. Bullet uses his telepathy to put Knockout's mind asleep and she falls over.

Snack Whip lashes out at Joule with her omnium cables and wraps up Joule's legs. Joule doesn't resist.

Viper shoots a barrage of poison darts down at Blindside and Savant. Blindside deflects them all with his acroyear blade and Savant does the same with her staff.

Blindside grabs the female student and evacuates her with his super-speed. Savant grabs Simon and runs with him out into the M.I.T. lawn.

Bullet telepathically assaults Viper's psionic shield and puts her to sleep as well.

Snake Whip users her cables to slam Joule into the ground, but Joule just absorbs the kinetic energy from the impact. Then Joule uses Snake Whip's cables to flip her over and smash her into the ground as well.

Briar Patch leaves Vanessa's body and successfully possesses Knockout. He accesses her memories and confirms that the Femme Fatales were hired by Shinobi Shaw to steal Nimrod. They have a "quinjet" nearby that is programmed to go to Shinobi's location.

Meanwhile Blindside uses his inertia field to take Savant and Noble to Noble's dorm room. She opens the door and is attached by Bloodlust. Savant is able to stave off Bloodlust's daggers with her staff and then paralyzes her with some ki strikes.

The New Mutants retrieve Noble's computer and reandevous at the Femme Fatale's quinjet. They leave the Femme Fatales tied up in Dr. French's lab and call Vision to have the Avengers come pick them up.

The New Mutants learn that Noble was in love with Dr. French and that she convinced him to hack into the El Molar Facility to help the Femme Fatales steal Nimrod. The New Mutants send a message to Sebastian Shaw, telling him what they have learned. Meanwhile, Briar Patch activates his body that is in the bathtub at the Hellfire Club and sends it to find Emma Frost

The "quinjet" takes a programmed path out over the Atlantic Ocean and approaches a "floating island" base.



As the jet approaches the base, Briar Patch learns that the Inner Circle has been assembled and that the voting is about to take place for Magneto's replacement. Briar Patch is led to the voting chamber.

Back on the island base, the New Mutants land and are met by Shinobi Shaw. Bullet and Blindside are invisible. Briar Patch is possessing Knockout's body. Shinobi congratulates them, telling them that he knew he saw potential in them. He entreats them to stop working for his father and to join with him. When they ask what he plans, he leads them into a larger room, where scientists are working on the Nimrod sentinel. Shinobi tells them that he is going to send Nimrod into the voting chamber where he will kill the Hellfire Club Inner Circle and the nominees. ( He offers to spare Madelyne Pryor and Emma Frost, if they want him to ) Once they are all dead, the Upstarts and the New Mutants can take over as the new leaders of the Hellfire Club.

Briar Patch arrrives in the voting chamber and relays what they've learned to Emma Frost, who in turn relays it to Sebastian Shaw. Shaw looks furious and has Emma Frost tell Briar Patch that he wants Shinobi Shaw and his Upstarts killed.

Meanwhile back on the island base, the New Mutants see that also present with Shinobi are Trevor Fitzroy, Sienna Blaze, and their secret allies, the Von Strucker twins. Shinobi Shaw has also hired the Juggernaut and his long-time friend Black Tom Cassidy.

Joule tells Shinobi that she doesn't think Nimrod is going to do what he expects it to. Shinobi tries one last time to convince the Muir Island New Mutants to join him, but they tell him that Sebastian Shaw already knows his plans and that it's hopeless.

While they continue to talk with Shinobi, Blindside (still invisible) slips away and starts destroying equipment and machinery, causing the alarms to sound.

The issue ends with Shinobi looking up with alarm as the warning claxons sound!

[Charles Warren]

Nimrod the Super Sentinel

ISSUE 50

This issue opens with the Muir Island New Mutants continuing their attempt to stop Shinobi Shaw and the Upstarts from re-activating Nimrod, the Super Sentinel, and sending him to kill the Hellfire Club Inner Circle.

On the floating Hydra Base, Shinobi Shaw hears the alarms ring. He looks sadly at the New Mutants and says, "And so the die has been cast." He begins to float up to the platform where a group of scientists are trying to revive Nimrod, simultaneously shouting for Juggernaut to attack the Muir Island New Mutants.

Savant uses her staff to catapult up to the level where Nimrod is, startling the scientists. Juggernaut leaps down to the walkway where the New Mutants are, but Joule uses her powers to make him fall at a much greater force. He crashes through the walkway and through the floor at the lowest level.

On the highest walkway, the Von Strucker twins clasp hands and fire their bio-symbiotic blasts. Andreas fires at Savant, but she leaps out of the way causing one of the scientists to be hit. Joule is able to deflect Andreas' blast with her kinetic field.

Sienna Blaze flies down to confront Briar Patch, who is possessing Knockout's body. She fires her electromagnetic blasts, but they bounce harmlessly off of Knockout.

Black Tom Cassidy fires a heat blast through his shillelagh at Savant and she avoids this one too, causing the blast to fry a second scientist. Savant senses movement over her shoulder and sees Shinobi Shaw has floated up behind her and is trying to push his phased hand into Savant's back. She lures him backwards to the Nimrod console and then leaps to the side. This causes Shinobi to accidentally phase his hand through the console and scramble it. Shinobi's phasing powers are temporarily disrupted, so Bullet (still psychically invisible) shoots him in the back with a telekinetic blast, that knocks Shinobi out.

Meanwhile, Fractal is able to teleport Flux back to the rest of the Muir Island New Mutants. Flux turns into her "air form" and creates a sonic boom as she flies up to the top of the chamber, shattering the glass dome and taking out all of the scientists and technicians. Two of the scientists are knocked off of the metal walkway that circles the Nimrod platform. Briar Patch causes sticky vines to shoot out of Knockout's hands that create a web of vines that catch them before they fall to their death.

Trevor Fitzroy flies over Flux and tries to use his powers to drain her life force, but she is able to hold him at bay with an air shield.

Blindside continues to speed through the Hydra Base, destroying critical systems in an attempt to cut the power to the Nimrod platform. Back in the main chamber Savant is able to finish disabling the Nimrod platform, preventing Nimrod from activating.

Joule flies over towards the Von Strucker twins, putting herself in position to ricochet their powers towards Black Tom Cassidy. The Von Struckers fire a combined blast at Joule, and she is able to reflect it into Black Tom's shillelagh, shattering it. But the force of the energies knock her out and she crashes down to the bottom level.

Sienna Blaze lands beside Savant and tries to pummel her with electro-magnetically charged punches. But Savant fends her off with her staff and pushes Sienna back away from her.

Black Tom Cassiday is weakened without a wooden object to channel is energy. So he flees into an elevator.

Blindside continues to wreak havoc against the electronics of the base, but discovers that a video feed is being transmitted out of the base to a Shaw Industries satellite.

As Fitzroy continues to struggle against Flux's air shield, Bullet blasts him with a telekinetic blast that knocks him unconscious and he falls into the sticky web of vines.

Flux shoots a darkforce blast at the Von Strucker twins. They separate and leap apart in order to avoid it.

Juggernaut stomps over to where Joule lays on floor and picks her up by her head with one of his meaty hands. He holds her up to the others and shouts that he will snap her neck, if they don't stand down.

Briar Patch (in Knockout) causes a fungal infection to grow inside Shinobi Shaw's body.

Blindside uses his super-speed to return to the chamber where the fight is taking place. He whizzes past Juggernaut and slashes at his helmet with his Acroyear blade, but it only sparks off of his armor harmlessly.

Savant executes a series of moves with her staff and takes Sienna Blaze out by cracking her in the head. Joule wakes up and tries to break free from Juggernaut's grip, but he's too strong.

The Von Strucker twins fire another combined blast at Flux, but she turns into stone form and blocks it.

Flux flies over between the Von Strucker twins and wrestles them apart, keeping them from touching.

Juggernaut bashes Joule into the floor over and over, knocking her out.

Briar Patch (in Knockout's body) leaps off of the metal walkway and then teleports into the fungus inside Shinobi's body. This causes Knockout to fall on top of Juggernaut. He swipes her away, causing her to crash into a nearby wall.

From up on the Nimrod platform, Savant taunts Juggernaut, trying to lure him up to her.

Black Tom reappears out of a different elevator. He's two wooden shards. They are broken pieces of Shinobi Shaw's executive chair that Bullet shot. Black Tome powers up the two pieces of wood and shoots Flux with a kinetic blast that knocks her out.

Bullet (still invisible) shoots Black Tom at point black range in the neck. He falls to his knees cursing hoarsely. Then Blindside swipes Black Tom at super-speed, sending him reeling, but still awake.

Juggernaut begins making his way up to Savant, issuing threats the whole time.

A hovercraft arrives above the shattered dome, and Sebastian Shaw leaps out and onto the platform beside Shinobi Shaw. He looks over at Savant and tells her that the New Mutants have done an excellent job. Then he looks down at Shinobi and says, "Now it's time to kill my, son."

END OF ISSUE

[Charles Warren]

Sebastian Shaw

ISSUE 51

Sebastian Shaw stands over his son, Shinobi Shaw, with the intent to kill him. Savant convinces Shaw to focus on Juggernaut, while she disables Nimrod Shaw hands Savant a primary protocol controller chip to install in Nimrod, but Savant secretly removes Nimrod's memory core while doing so. Shaw moves to the stairway to face off with Juggernaut.

The Von Strucker Twins fire a blast at Savant and she pushes herself and Nimrod off of the platform to dangle in the sticky vines. Black Tom Cassidy fires a heat blast at Savant, but she dodges behind Nimrod's body.

Bullet blasts the metal stairway, causing Juggernaut to fall to the lower level. Juggernaut decides to pick Joule up again and threatens to snap her neck if Savant doesn't surrender. But Briar Patch is still possessing the body of Shinobi Shaw and he orders Juggernaut to drop Joule and to kill Sebastian Shaw.

Blindside zips by the Von Strucker twins at super-speed and grabs Andreas Von Strucker, slamming him into a nearby console. Andrea runs to her brother, but Bullet puts them both to sleep.

Juggernaut begins punch the main support for the Nimrod platform, trying to topple it. But Briar Patch reveals to Sebastian Shaw that he is in control of Shinobi Shaw's body. Briar Patch lies and says that Shinobi Shaw has information bombs that would go off in the event of his death that would ruin Sebastian Shaw. Briar Patch(Shinobi Shaw) tells Juggernaut to stand down and the fighting stops.

Sebastian Shaw turns to a hidden camera and speaks to the Hellfire Club Inner Circle, telling them that the Nimrod super-sentinel is now under his control. That he also is backed by the X-Men and the New Mutants and that he throws his full support behind Emma Frost becoming the White Queen.

Shaw orders everyone to board his Shaw Industries quinjet. Blindside puts the Von Strucker Twins in lifeboats and leaves them stranded at sea. Briar Patch revives Joule and Flux. Flux uses her water powers to flood the Hydra Base as they leave. Bullet sabatoges the primary protocol controller that has been installed into Nimrod.

When the Muir Island New Mutants arrive at the New York Hellfire Club, they are greeted by Wolverine, Emma Frost, Selene, and Madelyne Pryor. They learn that Emma Frost has been elected as the new White Queen.

Sebastian Shaw takes the New Mutants, Wolverine and Emma Frost into his study and thanks them for upholding their part of the bargain. He promises that the X-Men and any mutant on Muir Island will be under the Hellfire Club's protection. He also promises that no Muir Island mutants will show up on Sentinel scans. And finally, he gives Wolverine a folder that contains information about Psylocke's location.

Briar Patch comes up with a plan for dealing with Shinobi Shaw and de-ages him to around 15 or 16. The Muir Island New Mutants vow to try to make him a better person this time, by having him grow up on Muir Island.

Sebastian Shaw tells them that they are welcome to stay with the Hellfire Club for as long as they like, but Wolverine says its time to go. Emma Frost walks them back to the quinjet and says her goodbyes to them. She also mentions that the Hellions will be returning to New York.

Joule slips Madelyne Pryor her phone number when they hug goodbye.

Savant stays behind in New York to handle the business of settling the scientists rescued from Shaw Industries.

Bullet makes plan to torment U.S. Agent for the next six weeks, using his psionic powers.

The Muir Island New Mutants fly back to Muir Island.