Uncanny X-Men (Marvel Omega)

SuperNova, Part IV

The Xavier Institute

"My X-Men. We have a problem."

Cassandra Nova Xavier stands at the head of the spacious War Room, over a dozen others paying her their full attention. They are her elite, her X-Men – Cyclops, Storm, Archangel, Iceman, Banshee, Domino, Colossus, Moonstar, Havok, Kwannon, Bishop, Dazzler, Bolt, Sunpyre, Skin, Ecstacy, and their sole human member, Cameron Dalin. To them, Cassandra is their mentor, their leader, the one who dared to dream and bring this team together. Recently, their professor has put into action a plan... a plan that is long overdue, and one that may finally accomplish the team's lifelong goal of bringing humanity and its mutant cousins together in peace.

"Two of our dear friends have fallen ill to a telepathic virus," Cassandra continues, as images of Phoenix and Ever flash across the holographic projection in the middle of the large table that most of the X-Men are seated at. "We've also lost another teammate, dear Scanner, to the terrorist organization called Black Womb."

Cassandra looks to Havok, and can see the pain all too apparent in his eyes. "However, to make matters worse, we now have a rogue squad of our own teammates who have turned against us. I fear they've had their minds taken over by a hostile force of some sort."

"Do we know where they are?" Storm asks from her seat at one end of the oval-shaped table.

Cassandra shakes her head. "Not at the moment. As many of you witnessed, Scott's own son teleported in here and took Jubilation and Peter away, before I could install the proper safeguards into their minds. Cable is obviously one of their rogue agents working against us now, but I doubt he's actually behind this scheme. As for Nightcrawler, Deathbird, and Fantomex... they are difficult to track. Between Nightcrawler's teleportation constantly displacing his bio-signature, Deathbird's odd alien physiology, and Fantomex's bodysuit masking him from our sensors... we can't be sure where to find them."

"Well, do we have any idea who's behind this?" Archangel asks, standing near the room's exit with his arms crossed.

"I have my theories, but I'd rather not name any names until I'm certain," Cassandra answers. "These are sensitive times, my X-Men. We are at a very important point in regards to our relations with humanity... we have a chance to finally make peace, and to make sure, at last, that all mutants are recognized as true citizens and protected equally under the law. Whoever is doing this wants to tear our campaign apart and stop that peace from ever happening."

"Obviously," Domino quips. "Look, you're really just giving us a recap here... unless you have anything important and new to toss out, shouldn't we be out looking for the others? Shouldn't we be following any leads we have?"

"As soon as Cerebro picks up any of their bio-signatures, I will be dispatching a team to bring them in," Cassandra tells her. "For the time being, though, we must not stop the important work that has begun. We have much to do, and we especially need to prepare for any attacks on the mansion. We can't expect that our enemy won't bring the battle right to our doorstep."

"Like we need this place demolished again..." Archangel mutters. His tone becomes louder and firmer as he follows up with, "Well, Professor, if that's all, I really need to go. I have several meetings today, and I'm already running late for one of them."

"Of course," Cassandra says with a nod. "All of you are free to go. Get on with your day as usual... try not to let all this mayhem weigh down your spirits. We will overcome this, as we always do."

Conversation sparks amongst the various X-Men as they take the next minute to file out of the room. It's not long before they're all gone, save for one – Cyclops. Instead of exiting the room with his teammates, he approaches Cassandra. Much like his brother, he is distressed, and with good reason.