X-Corp.
Medical Department.

Joseph's eyes opened with a jolt. He breathed for a few seconds as his surroundings seemed to glow with a white haze. When the shine went away, he realized he was strapped into a hospital bed. Wires were connected all over his body.

A hand touched his forehead. It was cold, yet soft. He reacted with a grunt.

Diode looked down at him, "Joe...?"

Joseph's silver hair was stained with sweat. He looked up at Diode and realized she was the one touching him, "Roni...what happened?" A nurse left the room quietly.

Diode sighed as Psylocke walked into the small room with the nurse behind her. Betsy wore a black business suit over a white silk blouse and had her glimmering blonde hair tied up into a ponytail. Her high heels clicked against the floor in a way that caused Joseph to tense up.

Psylocke nodded at Diode and glared at Joseph, "How are you feeling, Kevin?"

Joseph's chin crumpled up as tears stung at his eyes, "My name's...oh God..."

"I got rid of the memory implants," Psylocke said. "Part of it is still in your subconscious, but you won't feel as though they're real. All of your memories which were genuine -- your imprisonment on Muir Isle as Mutant X, the rampage on Muir Isle, your death, how Deus and Astra brought you back, and your time with the X-Men -- those remain. Nothing is fake or suppressed anymore."

Joseph's senses seemed to return to him as he realized a negator collar was snugly secured around his neck, "Then...I am Proteus?"

"Yes," Psylocke said. "But it depends. It's up to you to decide who you are."

"Joseph was my father's name...," Joseph said as tears rolled down his face. He struggled to keep himself from crying, "...and I killed him!"

"You almost killed Xorn," Diode said. "And us."

Joseph inhaled shakily, "...is he alright?"

"It's not your concern," Psylocke said angrily. "What you did was stupid. You could have ruined X-Corp's image!"

Joseph mumbled, "Like you said...it's up to me to decide who I am...maybe it isn't my choice. I've been this way all along. Who's to judge me for something that was meant to be?"

"You don't get it," Psylocke said, "this company employs hundreds of humans and mutants alike. The board members are the public face and we need to maintain a healthy relationship with the public to stay in business! We don't help the helpless, we provide the income of hundreds of workers we don't even know personally. What's worse, YOU were the vandal of the church in Spain! Do you think we enjoy covering up our mistakes?"

"You seemed to not mind when you conveniently erased your connection with the Jigoku crime syndicate," Joseph said.

"Joe, come on, you gotta cooperate with us here," Diode pleaded. "First you cause my brother to disappear, then you dump Sabretooth off in some random place...what the hell's the matter with you?"

"I told you, Savant is in the Vault," Joseph said.

"Bullshit, we checked!" Diode yelled. "They've never heard of a Warp Savant."

Joseph sighed, "...I put him somewhere where he couldn't hurt anybody. But he's powerless, I swear!"

"You better," Diode muttered. "Because I'm getting pretty fucking sick of your lies, bucko," she said as her eyes crackled with electricity.

"Come on," Psylocke said as she grabbed Diode's shoulder, "let's go." Diode walked out of the room. Before Psylocke left, Joseph called out to her.

"Why did you extort my true self from my mind?" he asked. "I was content not knowing I had Magneto's crimes on my shoulders, but now...it's even worse. Why would you allow someone like me to work along side you?"

Psylocke smiled comfortingly for a moment. She turned back and walked up to Joseph, "You're not the first X-Man to kill...it's as simple as that. We all have our dark sides. It's whether or not you come out of that dark place before it consumes you. That's all that matters. That's your only redeeming quality, now."

Psylocke began to walk out, but Joseph interrupted her again, "Does my mother know?"

Betsy sighed, "No, but I imagine you should be the one to tell her."

Joseph nodded as Psylocke left the room.

Science Wing.

Xorn's body was laid out on an exam table with various scientists in white radiation suits surrounded around him. Ever since Joseph disrupted Xorn's neural patterns by replacing his brain incorrectly, the Buddhist has been unable to regain consciousness...but is still very much alive. Archangel, Pyro, and Maggott all watched the procedure from outside the lab with a protective lead shield in the wall and glass. They also wore a special brand of UV sunglasses, as well.

"So, it's not a star in his head?" Pyro asked. He wore his usual flame-retardant leather jacket over black pants and orange $400 shirt.

Archangel shook his head in his white suit, "No. It appears to be a stabilized isotope of some kind. Stars are made of hydrogen and helium, the thing inside Xorn's head has 123 protons. No way a star could synthesize that kind of element."

"Damn," Pyro said. "Maybe it was synthesized by Xorny's mutation?"

"It's most likely man made," Archangel said.

"Does that mean Xorn's some kind of mutant Frankenstein?" Maggott asked in his sleek Italian black suit.

"More like a living radioactive storage facility," Warren said with disgust.

Pyro crossed his arms, "I dunno, I don't think Xorn was lying. It was just his personal view, I guess. Or he just didn't know the full truth. I mean, this isotope is like a tiny star. And it acts like one. Gives off electromagnetic radiation, has gravity...am I right?"

"We can't even pick Xorn's thoughts up on Cerebro, he's way too advanced for 'em," Maggott said. "What if Xorn's some kinda...I dunno, Oriental Weapon X? Or some kind of communist super spy for China?"

"I don't know," Archangel said. "But I have my own theories. First, we need to get some answers from Xorn's so-called liberator."

"You don't mean..." Pyro said.

"Stryker," Archangel said with a nod.

"Can you find my brother?" Diode asked Psylocke as she entered the spherical chamber of Cerebro. Psylocke turned around before she sat in the customized padded chair.

"He still has the x-gene, whether he's powerless or not," Psylocke said.

"The only reason we need to find him, is..."

"Your father, I know," Psylocke said.

"How did you...?" Diode asked.

"I probed your mind," Psylocke explained.

"How...? I thought I could block telepathy?" Diode wondered.

Psylocke pinched her lip, "Your defenses are down for some reason. I'm trying not to pry, really. It's just on the surface and it screamed to me."

Diode looked away, "I guess my family life is my weakness...it was never...pretty. All comedians come from a troubled household, after all."

"I have a psychotic brother, too," Psylocke said. "It's never easy when they come from the same gene pool." She sat in the chair as the helmet retracted from the top of the chamber, "I'll find him."

"Thanks," Diode said as the door shut Psylocke in.

Psylocke closed her eyes as a pink butterfly appeared over her cranium and began to light up with intensity. A hum of power and a telepathic projection appeared around her. All around her, she saw bright blue lights and just the slightest of hints of forms in which they belonged to. There were sporadic red lights in various locations.

They were the board members of X-Corp and the other, lesser mutant employees. The blue lights were the human signatures.

Psylocke concentrated as the area became smaller and she sat in the middle of what appeared to be a 3-D map of the city. The lights were more condensed. The red lights stood out more. She now viewed the mutants of New York City. In front of her, a hologram of sorts appeared with an energy signature producing a distinct wave of energy.

Psylocke concentrated and tried to see if any of the red lights matched the frequency. The chair rotated around so Psylocke could sift through each one. Eight million people and only maybe a couple hundred were mutants. Still, it would take awhile...and it was only one city. Psylocke sighed as she caused the area to shrink even further.

The mass of lights was a little too much to bare, so Psylocke commanded, "Cerebro, filter out human signatures."

[[Acknowledged.]]

The blue lights vanished, leaving an eerie red glow in the New York Tri-State area. Psylocke glanced over Salem Center and in the mansion. Cyclops and his team were still there. She noticed Jubilee's signature had spiked higher than normal.

Betsy shook her head to get her back to the task at hand, it was easy to let one's mind wonder when you had a vouyeristic-like device. She expanded the area to the Eastern Seaboard as the map shrunk around her.

"Filter out beta mutant signatures," Psylocke commanded.

[[Acknowledged.]]

With that, the red lights with small spikes of luminosity (basically, low-level mutants with physical mutations) blipped off the map. With the hologram display of Savant's signature still in front of Betsy, she still couldn't sense him. The map shrunk even further to show the continental United States, and then all of North America.

The area kept on getting smaller and smaller...with no sign of Savant.

"Bullocks...," Psylocke swore. "I suppose I could just ask Joseph, but his mind is so fragile right now for me to probe..."

Suddenly, Betsy saw that a mutant signature in New Mexico disappeared, and reappeared within the X-Corp building. Psylocke concentrated and recognized it immediately, "Oh damn...Damn!"

"Please take these off...," Joseph said to Diode, referring to his restraints which strapped him to the bed.

"I can't do that, Joe," Diode said. "I trust you, dude, but..." Roni noticed Joseph was at a loss for words. She looked behind her and saw a lavender-skinned girl with tattoos over her eyes. "Clarice?"

The woman known as Blink appeared shocked, "Diode...what the hell happened? I saw what happened on TV, what's going on?"

"I...," Diode paused. She walked up to Blink and touched her shoulder, "We really need to talk, but not here."

"Joseph, what's going on?!" Blink shouted as she pushed Diode out of the way.

"Get me out of here!" Joseph shouted.

Blink's eyes lit up as his restraints and negator collar instantly vanished off of him. She looked back at Roni as she and Joseph disappeared in a flash of pink light.

"...damn it," Diode muttered. Psylocke kicked the door open with her psi-blade protruding from her forearm.

"Where is she?!" Psylocke asked.

"They're...gone," Diode said, ashamed.

Psylocke closed her eyes, as she placed a telepathic tracer inside of Joseph's mind. Hopefully they weren't too far off. Betsy's blue eyes opened, "They're just at his apartment."

"Should we go get him back?" Diode asked.

Psylocke shook her head, "Archangel, Pyro, and Maggott just left for a high security prison in Virginia. We're the only ones here. We need to oversee the departments and see if Xorn is making progress. Blink's a smart girl...they just need to talk."

The Seraphim landed on a landing pad just outside the large steel fenced gate with barbed wire along the top and various sniper towers. Archangel, Pyro, and Maggott stepped down as the latch opened.

"If the paparazzi's here, I'm gonna--" Pyro began.

"It's X-Corp!"

"Woogoo!"

*SNAPSNAPSNAPSNAPSNAP*

"--crickey, how'd they get cameras?" Pyro grumbled as the inmates began to shoot photos of the three board members. A security officer approached them. He wore a gray uniform.

"This is restricted access, gentlemen, I don't care how famous you are, you can't get in," the officer said.

Maggott fumbled through his pocket and pulled out his SHIELD credentials, "Agent Japheth, sir. Clearance level A-32M."

The officer peered closer at the card, "Says here you were discharged from SHIELD."

"Yeah, well...," Maggott began.

The officer looked down and realized two large shelled slugs slithered around his ankles, "Oh CHRIST!" He backpedaled faster than Michael Jackson from a pedophile claim. "HOLY SHIT, those things are...HUGE!"

"Please, you're making me blush," Maggott said as his skin shifted to blue and his mass bulked up. "Let us in, ag?"

"Careful, Maggott," Archangel warned. "The media..."

"Oh, I'm not gonna hurt him...just eat him very slowly," Maggott smiled.

"OH GOD!" the officer yelped as he sprinted for the door.

"Wait!" Archangel shouted as he flew through the air and landed in front of the doorway as the officer ran into him and fell flat on his back. "We need to speak with William Stryker. As you know, we've been having a bit of internal troubles with our company. My trusted employee, Xorn is in a coma. Stryker has information on the location of the Chinese government base that held Xorn for many years. They might be the only ones who can help him recover."

The officer got himself up to his feet and grunted, "Alright...only because I think Xorn is the coolest part of your freakshow."

"You sonofa!" Pyro shouted as he lunged for the officer, but Maggott pulled him down.

"Don't, John," Maggott implored.

"Feck that, you said you were gonna eat him!" Pyro shouted.

"I was bluffing," Maggott said. "Now come on, this is to help Xorn."

Pyro muttered something under his breath as the three X-Men entered the prison behind the security officer with Eany and Meany going in after them.

"...you're who?" Blink asked.

"Proteus," Joseph said as he sighed deeply.

"And who told you this?" Blink inquired. "Last time I checked, Deus said you were Charles Lensherr."

Joseph shook his head, "Deus was a powerful telepath. More powerful than Psylocke. He placed layer after layer of a false identity in my head to hide the truth...Xorn broke through the first layer and Psylocke finished it until she reached the core. My true self."

"It doesn't make sense," Blink said. "Proteus was a telepathic reality warper. You control magnetism."

"Right," he said. "My powers burnt out my body, so I had to possess others...burning them up as well. I took on Magneto's powers and form because my mother...she had once reversed his age to that of an infant...maybe in some small way I wanted her to care for me in the way she did with Magneto. I'm also around 25 years old mentally, so I adjusted the form's appearance accordingly when Deus extracted my essence from the electromagnetic field. Naturally, my hatred for Erik fueled my resolve to be recognized by my mother...it's probably why Deus chose me."

"...what did you do to Xorn?" Blink asked of the man she came to know for only a short time, but felt she had a connection with him because of his caring nature.

Joseph looked away, "It was stupid and impulsive. I got caught up in the lies of my life...my rage."

"Are you a murderer?" Blink asked.

"No," Joseph was quick to respond. He recanted, "...yes..." He sighed, "But how is that different from the lives Archangel or Rogue took when they were Apocalypse's Horsemen? Or Psylocke when her Crimson Dawn powers corrupted her? Or Pyro?"

"It's not different," Blink said as she sat next to Joseph and rubbed his back. "You know, with Exodus...not a day goes by when he regrets being under Apocalypse or Magneto. Maybe he can understand what you're going through better than Warren and the others."

"I wasn't controlled like he was," Joseph said. "I did what I did out of my inability to understand what life was. My parents were divorced and I was born with the ability to change my reality...the truth is I couldn't change anything...not really. I made it worse."

"Exodus sided with Magneto under his own free will," Blink said. "Granted, the thing with Apocalypse was different, but...we all make mistakes."

"I've made too many...," Joseph said. Various metal objects, a pen, a letter opener, and silverware began to swirl around him. "I still have magnetism powers...the minute I switch to my natural abilities, this body would burn out. The question is...do I want to kill myself if the solution is as easy as my own will making it so?"

Blink shook her head, as tears filled her eyes, "I love you, Joseph."

"I'm not the same man you fell in love with," he said.

Blink grabbed Joseph's face and kissed him on the lips. She pulled away, "Yes, you are...can't you see the memories of us together?"

"Yes," Joseph said as he hugged Blink tightly. He began to sob, "...I should have never stayed here...I wanted to be with you..."

"I know...," Blink agreed. "Let's get out of here."

*BLINK*

"Mr. Worthington, how exciting it is to see you again," Stryker said as he sat down in the chair inside the glass room which surrounded him. He wore a bright orange prison jumpsuit. Archangel, Pyro, and Maggott stood in the corridor outside the glass room. Stryker's silver mane had grown down to his shoulders and he had grown a beard. "I have heard nothing but good things for your company. Congrat--"

"Shut up," Archangel muttered. "You're responsible for the deaths of hundreds of mutants using a sick religious crusade."

"Fine," Stryker said. He sighed, "What do you want? I've had to sit through hours of religious tutoring...something about mutants actually not being mentioned outright in the Bible as evil...rather, blasphemous."

"Xorn," Pyro said loudly to drown out Stryker's head games. "Your clerics liberated him from the Chinese government. Where exactly did you find him?"

"I don't recall," Stryker smiled. "I killed so many freaks, that I forgot where they all came from."

"He had an Element 123 in his skull, something unheard of in terms of science and technology...and you forgot?" Maggott asked.

"This is a matter of life and death, Stryker!" Archangel shouted. "Tell us where you found Xorn. We need the info on his brain from the people who kept him there. Not even Reed Richards was able to help him."

"My oh my," Stryker said in a haunting voice, "whatever happened to the good Buddhist?"

"So you do remember," Pyro confirmed.

"Yes...," Stryker recalled. "He was different from the others. So forgiving, so passive...I was almost convinced for a moment he was Christ. But how could the messiah be...Asian?"

"The hell...? You're a real douche bag, you know that, mate?" Maggott asked. "You deserve to be locked up--"

"AND YOU WITH ME!!" Stryker shouted. He wiped the side of his mouth, "It was a facility named Feng Tu. You'll get your answers there."

Archangel crossed his arms, "Why are you cooperating?"

Stryker smiled, "I lost over thirty clerics trying to get that mutant. If you're all so desperate, you'll have to go through the same thing." He shrugged as he got out of his chair and walked up to the glass wall, "And who knows...maybe you'll all die in the process?"

Archangel thrust his hand through the plated glass and grabbed onto Stryker's collar. Glass sprinkled everywhere on the floor.

"GUARD!" Stryker yelped as an alarm sounded off. The fluorescent lights turned off and were replaced with red flood lights.

Archangel growled as he let go of Stryker. A guard approached Stryker from behind in the glass room and handcuffed him. Archangel looked at his bleeding fist.

"You coulda just called him a fecker, y'know," Pyro suggested.

X-Corp.
Board office.

"Penis," Psylocke groaned.

"Um...what?" Diode wondered.

Psylocke pressed up against her temple, "Joseph is gone...with Blink." The phone rang and Betsy pushed the speaker button, "Ugh, what now? Yes, Sandy?"

{{"Reed Richards on line four...heh, line four, that's funny,"}} Sandy, the secretary chuckled.

"Put him through," Betsy said. The line was transferred and Psylocke pressed the extension, "Hullo?"

{{"Psylocke? Hi, it's Reed,"}} Mr. Fantastic greeted. He paused for a minute, {{"...no, Franklin, I'm on the phone...okay, fine...tell your Uncle Johnny to share your Playstation 2...I know it's not his, it's yours...I know, Franklin, run along. Uh, sorry. There's some good news. Based on the data your scientists faxed me, I couldn't seem to find a way to reconnect Xorn's brain with the rest of his nervous system, but the good news now is I know why."}}

Psylocke and Diode looked at each other. Suddenly, there was a rumbling from above as the Seraphim landed in the hangar, located in the dome on top of the building.

"Go ahead," Psylocke said.

Reed continued, {{"Well, it's obvious that the thing inside Xorn's skull isn't a microscopic star."}}

"We know, it's Element 123 or something," Diode said.

{{"No, it's not that. It's a star cluster. Each tiny star seemed to wreak havoc with your electron microscopes. I adjusted mine and saw that they weren't 123 protons of one atom, but 123 separate stars, each made of a hydrogen-helium balanced gas ball we see in normal sized stars,"}} Reed explained.

"Holy cripe," Diode swore. "So, what's the problem?"

{{"His mind only resides in one of the 123 stars. Finding the central part of Xorn's consciousness is top priority. If we can't reconnect the correct star to his nervous system in thirty-six hours, his body and mind will die,"}} Reed said.

"Shit...," Warren said as he just walked in with Pyro and Maggott in tow. He sighed, "The facility Xorn was held in since his mutation manifested is called Feng Tu. We're going there and we're going to get them to fix this problem."

"But, you heard what Richards said!" Diode yelled. "And since when do we ambush government installations...? I mean, we're not X-Men Omega anymore."

"The public has an obsession with us, and Xorn is a favorite among them; I've seen the polls," Archangel explained. "Who are they to argue if we're doing this to save his life?" Archangel crossed his arms, "Reed, you still there?"

{{"Yes, Warren,"}} he responded. {{"What do you plan to do?"}}

Archangel sighed, "We'll go to Feng Tu and extract any information we can and send it back to you. Can you watch over Xorn until then?"

{{"Of course. I'll get Sue and the others on it, too,"}} Reed said. {{"Good luck."}}

"Thanks," Warren said as Reed hung up. He looked behind him as Pyro and Maggott nodded. Archangel looked at Diode and Psylocke, "Pyro, Maggott, and I are going. I don't expect you to go, as it could be pretty dangerous. I understand Joseph might need attention, as well."

Psylocke glanced away, "Blink was here. Joseph left with her...presumably to New Mexico to be with Exodus' team."

"They're just sapping up our old members left and right, aren't they?" Archangel grimaced with frustration, "He's fired. No employee of mine ignores their duty. He's the one who started this mess. This is about as annoying as that British tabloid that keeps calling us X-Corps!"

"At least Exodus can be there to stop him," Psylocke said. "If it comes to that. Exodus has been spiking high as of late on Cerebro, he can handle Joseph."

"Fine," Archangel said. "So, are you two coming?"

Diode and Psylocke exchanged a glance. Diode smiled, "Hells yeah."

"Count on it," Psylocke said. "Xorn has touched all of our lives. We owe it to him."

"Let's go, then," Archangel said as the board took the elevator up to the hangar. Before they entered the jet, Pyro had a question.

"Um...does that mean we get paid more if Joseph isn't part of the board?" Pyro asked.

Diode slapped him upside the head.

"Just asking," Pyro shrugged. "I mean...this is sort of a suicide mission. I need to know what my motivation is."

"Your motivation is saving the life of the colleague that has saved yours many times," Warren said as he climbed into the Seraphim and strapped into the pilot seat. Psylocke went to copilot. The others got into the passenger seats. The engines roared up, and the jet named for the most powerful of angels ripped through the air at top speeds.

"Warren...?" Psylocke asked telepathically.

"Yeah...?" Archangel replied.

"Is this the end?" she asked.

"It won't be..."

"Don't lie to me, Warren, please. It only annoys me. Feng Tu has enough security to take on an army."

"A challenge, yes...but nothing worse than what we've faced."

"I've never been engaged before...now I know why Scott and Jean were so nervous when a threat presented itself...I can't lose you."

"This is different. There's no threat. Only a desire to save a life."

"I'm ashamed to say I mostly came along to protect you."

"I don't need protecting, Betsy. Your trust in me and the team will suffice as protection."

"I love you."

"Ditto."

The Seraphim entered escape velocity as it tilted to the right, aiming directly for central China...

NEXT: FENG TU STRIKE