01x02 - Mutant Liberation Begins

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[NARRATOR] Previously on X-Men...

[REPORTER] The mutant leader's
assassination last year

by former NSA agent Henry Gyrich

has spurred increased
sympathy toward mutants.

[JEAN] The team,
they'll always be family,

but with the baby coming,

maybe it's time to think of
a life beyond the X-Men?

How'd scum like you get your hands
on Sentinel technology?

You freak shows think we wouldn't
find a way to evolve, too?

I know who we need to see
to find Bolivar Trask.

The man who k*lled Charles Xavier.

[BOLIVAR] Gyrich warned me
you were coming.

[ERIK] The last will and testament
of Charles Francis Xavier.

Everything he built

now belongs to me, my X-Men.

[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]

Workers have managed to unload
all passengers, save one

in what has become
a Coney Island nightmare.

Any sudden moves and the wheel
could come crashing down.

It's okay, honey.

Come to me nice and easy.

Real slow.

[SCREAMS]

[GRUNTS]

[CROWD GASPS]

[SCREAMING]

[GASPING]

- [CROWD SCREAMS]
- [METAL CREAKS]

[GASPS]

Ladies and gentlemen, I...

Art?

Is that who I think it is?

Saving humans?

But while it's too soon to tell

how recent events will impact
mutant-human relations,

one thing is clear
to both humans and mutants.

[SIGHS] I don't get it, Jean.

Did the Professor not trust me?

Maybe we're seeing this wrong.

Maybe he did this for us.

Across the globe,
reports are flooding in.

Mutants and humans aided and saved

by the former mutant t*rror1st

who had gone missing after
failing to launch a mutant rebellion

following Charles Xavier's
assassination last year.

And we're hearing
the international community

is closely monitoring the situation,
with some demanding

this unlikely savior
answer for his past crimes.

[GRUNTS] This is our home, you pig,

it's all we have left,

all you dogs left us.

You think regular folks can sleep

knowing you demons
are down here, lurking?

Please, don't hurt Leech.

[MAGNETO] The depths you humans go.

[GRUNTING]

Even denying these outcasts
the indignity of your waste.

Electricity and magnetism
are intimately acquainted.

How unfortunate for you

that I am the master of magnetism.

Dirty mutant.

You'll get what's coming...
[MUMBLES INDISTINCTLY]

You're him!

- You're...
- Magneto.

And I promise you, child,
you shall never be afraid again.

What was the Professor thinking?

"The only safe and sure way
to destroy your enemy

is to make him your friend".

Mark Twain.

Beast isn't wrong.
The Professor had a plan.

Seen a lot of futures, but
Magneto leading the X-Men?

That's a new one.

Maybe we go change it back, huh?

Look, plenty of us at this table
have paths so dirty

they don't squeak no matter
how much spit you got.

Maybe we should take a page
from the Professor's playbook

and give Erik a second sh*t.

I have arranged for the Morlocks

to travel to the mutant
nation of Genosha.

It saddens me that none
of you, nor Xavier himself,

thought to use his considerable
finances to do the same.

But this is one of many mutant matters

on which we can and
will improve, my X-Men.

Guess we can assume

- those jerks in the sewer are...
- Alive, but not unharmed.

The tragic fact that I did
not consign those sapiens

to the waste bin of history
is proof of my desire

to honor Charles Xavier's
dream of mutant-human...

[SIGHS] ... coexistence.

Okay, prove it.

Let Jean scan your mind,
see your real plans.

Scott, no.

What? You did it with Gyrich.

I accessed Gyrich's mind
for information.

Using my powers to assess
honesty is another matter.

Even if I sensed Magneto's
intentions were sincere,

that's today, this hour, this minute.

Then we check every minute of every day.

I was under the welcome impression

that you and Mrs. Summers
were leaving us.

Not a chance. I'm keeping an eye on you.

Scott, read the will again.

Like it or not, this is what
the Professor wanted.

Please,

my intentions here were not
to cause drama or discord.

You must understand. You have
been our fiercest foe for years.

A desire for you to prove
yourself is only natural.

And Storm,

you are the closest thing to a
goddess as we will ever see.

So, I do not lightly deny your request

and demand your trust instead.

Xavier wanted this.

Maybe he was wrong.

After all our tête-à-têtes,

you have finally realized
what I did ages ago.

Even Charles Xavier can make a mistake.

Haven't worn this old thing

since that battle
in the Blue Area of the Moon.

I was possessed
by a malevolent cosmic entity

intent on consuming all of existence.

But there was Scott,

fighting by my side.

[STORM] You are afraid
that he will no longer leave

now that Magneto has taken charge.

Can I tell you something?

I need to tell you something

and I need you not to
judge me too harshly.

Or tell Scott.

[STORM] You have my word, Jean.

There are times when
I think about the baby,

his future, and I...

If he's a mutant,

how do I tell him he's different?

That the world will remind
him of it every day.

That he must always be careful,
always be on guard, or else...

You wish him to be born human.

I have wondered what it
would be like to be human.

It is a tempting daydream.

But then I remember how my mutant
gifts brought me to this mansion,

to this family,

to a sister.

Thank you, Storm.

[SIGHS] Just ever since
I was in Gyrich's mind,

I can't shake this feeling that
something terrible is coming.

[SCOFFS]

Boy, I sound like a fool.

[SIGHS]

No, Jean.

You sound like a mother.

[ROGUE] Well, your little pep talk

went about as smooth
as a dozen cats in a yarn store.

[MAGNETO] I wish to be alone, Rogue.

Ugh! Giving me the heebie-jeebies,

pouting with that old bucket of yours.

[MAGNETO] Back when we were friends,

I would always sense Charles in my mind.

Not invading, more a presence.

I was in his thoughts and he in mine.

When we parted ways,

I told myself I needed this

to protect myself from
his psychic powers.

[ROGUE] But you were worried if
you still felt how much he loved you,

you wouldn't be able to go
through with your crusade.

And yet, here you are,

dragged in like a kitty cat's prize.

Xavier's sacrifice

brought about a world more
tolerant towards mutants.

I am indebted to honor his last wish,

even if his X-Men won't trust me.

Perhaps they are right not to.

My past is too littered with error.

[ROGUE] Mine was, too, remember?

But the X-Men still took me in.

The thing is, I didn't go
about demanding their trust.

I earned it.

I feared you would do your best

to avoid being alone with me, Rogue.

Do you think your team would
still trust you if they knew?

That was a long time ago, Erik.

And that cat's got to stay
in its bag, you hear me?

[HELICOPTERS WHIRRING]

Ready yourselves, my X-Men.

We don't lose our cool
when the good guys show up.

[r*fles POWERING UP]

You were saying?

[DR. COOPER] We're here for Magneto.

Think twice.

Our r*fles are resistant
to your electromagnetic powers.

- [ALARMS BLARING]
- [GASPS]

I should have thought twice?

Magneto, by order of the UN Commission
on Superhuman Activities,

I hereby place you under arrest
for crimes against humanity.

You will stand trial
at the UN Headquarters.

Should I successfully vindicate myself

in what I will generously
assume is a fair trial,

will I earn your trust?

That is how due process works.

Then...

I yield.

[INHIBITOR COLLAR BEEPING]

These acts prove Magneto's
guilt beyond any doubt

and offer a preview of the zeal

with which he would resume
his quest to dominate this planet,

should he be exonerated today.

Justice is overdue.

Any updates?

Cooper's listing every nasty step

Magneto's taken from here to Asteroid M.

Folks outside are pissed
he's even getting a trial.

Can't say I blame 'em.

Have you seen Scott?

He's there with the others

making sure Magneto doesn't
pull one of his stunts.

Oh, he didn't tell me.

Lot of that going around lately.

[INCREASES VOLUME]

- Down with muties!
- Down with mutants!

Come out here, cowards!

[DENTI] People will look back on today

and say it was the beginning
of a new age.

The day mankind made Magneto pay.

Folks out there want the UN's
heads just as much as his.

Stir the pot, boys, and
keep 'em distracted.

I'll only have one sh*t.

[GAVEL BANGS]

[JUDGE] The defendant may now speak.

As a boy, my people's homes
were b*rned to ash

because we dared to call
God by another name.

Then, my people hunted me

with those who had once hunted them.

I was a freak, born a mutant.

An abomination to their misnamed gods.

In history's sad song,
there is a refrain.

Believe differently,

love differently,

be of different sex or skin,
and be punished.

We sing this song to one another.

The oppressed become oppressors.

Xavier knew this

and dreamed we could
change, find harmony.

A future where human and mutant

could relinquish the past and finally...

[SIGHS WEARILY]

You claim justice is overdue.

Indeed,

but so is healing.

Your words, while kind,

do nothing to heal those
hurt by your crimes.

And your sound-bite indignation
will not heal mutant wounds.

You build robots to hunt us,

collars to chain our power.

Humanity must protect itself.

Protection?

That is extermination.

I have only ever acted to avenge
crimes against my people,

as you act to avenge
those against yours today.

If that were the case, are
we truly to believe, then,

that in the face of what you
consider to be extermination,

you would walk Charles Xavier's path?

Not the worst thing, this
don't go Magneto's way,

don't you think?

[GUARD OVER RADIO] They've
broken through the barriers.

We can't hold 'em back.

Deploy smoke! Deploy smoke!

Protesters are breaching the perimeter.

They must want Magneto.

And the judges, ma'am.

What in the blazes did we do?

You gave a monster a trial.

Now, you are traitors to your kind.

Oh, to play by the rules
and still they come for you.

Storm, watch Magneto and the judges.

The rest of us will back up the guards.

Our goal is de-escalation.

- [REPORTER] Protesters are demanding...
- Jean, gotta get into the city.

Crowd's lost their blasted mind.

[GRUNTING] Logan,

he's...

He's here.

Who? Apocalypse?

The baby!

Oh, crap.

- [TIRES SCREECH]
- [MAN GASPS]

Careful, Logan!

[GRUNTS]

[WOLVERINE] Get out of the way!

Get out of the way!

- Hang tight, Jeanie.
- [GROANS]

Almost there.

Almost there.

[PROTESTOR 1] Can't
hide forever, you freak!

[PROTESTOR 2] No more mutants!

Rogue, secure the perimeter outside.

This way to the traitors!

[BEAST] I am unable to ascertain

the nature of the w*apon on his back,

but his armor

is constructed from an energy-resistant
titanium-laced alloy.

You got a name?

X-Cutioner.

Here to make sure gene freaks
like Magneto pay for their crimes.

Darn mutants!

[GOON] Get 'em!

[BEAST GROANS]

- Round two. Absorb this!
- [GRUNTS]

Hurt my friends?

Well, now you answer to me.

[DENTI] Humanity answers to no one!

[GRUNTS]

Know what I hate about your kind?

You act like you got it so bad.

Normal people have it hard, too.

Harder!

We just have the dignity
not to whine about it.

You see? It's the whining.

I hate your whining just
as much as I hate you.

- [YELLS]
- [CLAWS SLASHING]

[JEAN] Scott, hurry!

Jean, you're in pain.

[JEAN] The baby's coming, Scott.

Storm, Jean's in labor.

Morph's here, but
they're losing the line!

Rogue, fly Cyclops to Jean immediately.

Magneto and I will protect the judges.

[CYCLOPS] Be careful, Storm.
It's still Magneto.

Circumstances do not offer us a choice.

I need your men stationed at every door.

I want those in the lobby
to assist the other X-Men.

You, uncollar Magneto. You...

- Well, now who does she think she...
- Do not think.

Be silent. Heed my commands
and you shall survive.

[INHIBITOR COLLAR BEEPS]

[YELPS IN PAIN]

What do you mean,
"don't do mutant births"?

You people can lose control
of your powers.

And if she needs a C-section...

I'll show you a C-section, bub.

[CYCLOPS] Jean.

Darling, I'm here.

This doctor won't deliver our baby.

Rogue, can you use your powers
to siphon his medical expertise?

Excuse me? Do what?

Cyclops, if I slip and touch
your baby, my powers...

Rogue, I trust you.

We both do.

Enough! You all need to...

Sorry, sugar.

[SCREAMING]

Prep an IV and get this lady to a room.

- [RIOTER 1] Found you, muties!
- [RIOTER 2] Go! Go! Go!

[RIOTER 3] Filthy muties!

[STORM] Magneto.

[RIOTER 4] Get 'em!

Be animals

and be caged!

Let us see how their mob manners

fare against the shock of good conduct.

[w*apon POWERING UP]

[STORM] Magneto!

[STORM YELPS]

Storm!

[GRUNTS]

[STORM GROANS]

Ahh! [GRUNTS]

[GROANS]

[GASPS] The breeze is gone.

I cannot feel it, nor the moisture,

nor the air.

What has he done to me?

[STORM SOBBING]

Magneto, this was not what we wanted.

Lies.

This is your dream.

My kind splayed before you,

powerless and afraid.

All the X-Men have done
is use their awesome power

to protect a world that
hates and fears them.

Behold their reward.

What must we do to be good enough?

Is this the high road's destination?

If so, I say, as I have
too many times before,

never again.

[GASPING]

- [RUMBLING]
- [PEOPLE SCREAMING]

[JUDGE] No!

Let us go! No!

Oh, dear.

[GASPS]

[ALL SHIVERING]

Bigot,

ingrate,

sycophant, worm.

So small I could smite you with a step.

There was a time I would smite you
all for what was done to Storm.

But today,

I have saved you from your own,

for an old friend has challenged me
to remember this view of Earth.

How vast it is versus
how small we make it.

Charles Xavier entrusted
me with his dream,

and it does not ask you to love
or embrace my kind as your own,

but merely to accept
that this is a shared world

with a common future,

and that my kind, like yours,
have the right to live in it.

I am trying to be better.

- Please...
- [GROANS]

Do not make me let you down.

[COOING]

Look, he has your eyes.

[CYCLOPS CHUCKLES]

Well, doesn't he need a name?

I was thinking "Nathan".

[CYCLOPS] Yeah.

That's my boy, Nathan Summers.

Nathan Charles Summers.

The United Nations
stunned the world this week

when it issued a pardon for Magneto,

due in no small part to the former
mutant t*rror1st's efforts

in saving the tribunal and
quelling the insurrection.

In another gesture of goodwill

in our efforts to improve relations
with our mutant brethren,

we will begin talks to admit
the mutant nation of Genosha

into the United Nations.

- Poison?
- Dark roast.

Genosha, a UN nation.

Never thought I'd see the day.

I hear you and Jean have begun
to make arrangements to leave.

Does this mean you trust me

to carry on Xavier's dream?

The Professor trusted you,
and I trust him.

I guess that'll have to be enough.

If I may offer advice, Scott.

Be wary.

Be vigilant.

Tragedy lures with fortune first.

This was a good week for our people.

Yet it was not without cost.

[CLEARS THROAT]
Inhibitor collars use radiation

to temporarily neutralize
our mutant powers.

The X-Cutioner's laser r*fle

fired a concentrated dose
of that same radiation.

It affects genetics on a cellular level,

suppressing a mutant's abilities

without the need for a collar itself.

Ororo...

[STORM] How long?

- Additional tests will be needed before...
- Hank, please.

How long?

- The effects appear permanent.
- [GASPS SOFTLY]

[JEAN] We'll fix this.

Scott and I aren't going anywhere, okay?

Not until you're well again. I swear.

Beast, we need to contact Muir Island.

- [THUNDERCLAP]
- [GASPS]

[STORM] Jean, my sister.

You of all the X-Men know the
heartbreak of saying goodbye,

having said it so many times.

So I ask that you help
the others understand

why I could not stay to say it this day.

My faith in your family's
future is strong.

And I cannot rob you of a bond
you have more than earned.

It is human nature to crave connection,

as it is also mutant nature to be heard,

seen,

to feel another soul
finally seeing yours.

Connection is a fragile treasure.

One we sacrifice so much to maintain.

[GROWLING PLAYFULLY]

[LOGAN CHUCKLES]

[STORM] Only to then sometimes
watch it break in a blink

that changes your life forever.

We are no longer connected, Jean.

And now we walk
in two very different worlds.

But trust that I will cherish
what we shared as X-Men,

memories that already feel
like a lifetime ago.

[JEAN READING] "Like
another woman's life.

Or another person's dream.

Love, Ororo".

[BEAST SNIFFLES]

If only I hadn't left the UN,
I could have...

[BISHOP] You did what you had to.

Storm did the same.

And we will respect her decision.

[GAMBIT] That so?

The blast had your name on it.

Should be you leaving, mon ami.

[MORPH] I don't buy it.

Not one minute.

Storm will spend a day
schlepping it with the basic folk

and come right home,

- happy as a...
- [DOORBELL RINGS]

Ha! What did I say?

She's back!

Jean?

I need the X-Men.

What? Jean?