February 2009

Ghosts of the past haunted several residents. Nathan Dayspring found himself falling apart after the incident in January with the SHIELD team, unable to cope with the idea of failing another generation of Mistra-like operatives with the Taygetos project. Jean Grey and Scott Summers were called in to assist Christopher Summers when Robert Haverford resurfaced, up to his old tricks and assisted this time by a body-snatcher. Shiro Yoshida proved helpful with a string of ritual murders, committed by the Hand in search of holy relics hidden within three mutants. The X-Men assisted, but one of the three was killed in the process, something which impacted significantly on Shiro. And Kurt Sefton encountered his mother, Mystique again, this time not falling for her manipulations, although it was a close thing and resulted in several teammates being injured by Nimrod.

X-Force took on two new members - Vanessa Carlysle and David North - and the X-Men saw the return of an old face with Logan returning from Canada to try and pick up where he'd left off. The New Mutants faced a new challenge, with a laser tag trip going awry with Arcade putting them through a new version of Murderworld as part of a reality television experiment. They survived, coming out a stronger team for the experience although Julian Keller blamed himself for the incident and Inez Temple was happy to agree with him, hurt by his flirting with Angelica Jones.

Recovery continued; for Doug Ramsey, it involved getting his mind back with Emma Frost's help; for Mark Sheppard it involved Silver reopening and for Jay Guthrie, it involved breaking through his anger and mourning for his old self and beginning to accept his new, as well as establishing the need for regular sessions in the Danger Room with Logan to bleed off aggression. Jane Doe found herself in danger whilst working in New York on the rebuilding, the incident causing her to reflect on her life.

Timeline

Feb 1 - Monet emails Clarice, asking for their one night stand to be kept from Kurt. Noriko mentions the catfight the day before. Garrison comes back to the mansion to find Adrienne curled up on his couch. Cammie surprises her new suitemate, Jane, by moving in. Morgan emails Angelo, apologising for the sudden departure and telling him it's his turn. Paige and Jay have a sibling moment, despite his changes. Nori takes care of a sick Julio. Laurie emails Morgan about accompanying her on the first leg of her proposed world tour. Forge and Crystal celebrate their first anniversary. So You Want To Be A Superhero: Julian invites his fellow New Mutants to join him on his prize, and emails prospective chaperones. Walking Ghosts: Betsy confronts Nathan in the library about his lack of coping and winds up knocking him out and taking him down to Jean, where she expresses her displeasure at the state he's in. Kurt helps North move into the brownstone. Cammie tracks down Terry to thank her for her help. Shiro and Jean-Paul hide from Superbowl and talk about the women they've lost. Manuel teaches Doug fencing and they discuss the Hellfire Club.

Feb 2 - North and Morgan introduce themselves on x_snowvalley to their new co-workers; Amanda meets North in the kitchen and feels him out about magic. Doug reflects on passport hacking. Walking Ghosts: Kyle comes across Nathan and provokes him into snapping. Jane and Yvette are doing Red X work in New York when Jane is trapped in a collapsing building and taken to hospital; Yvette texts Scott from the hospital asking him to come; Scott lets the school know what happened. Cammie finds her way to the library and meets Tabitha. Garrison comes by and sees Morgan. Nathan visits Jane in hospital.

Feb 3 - Laurie makes a to-do list for her backpacking trip. The Orchid: Scott announces he and Jean are off to Madripoor to see his father. Cammie runs into Crystal. So You Want To Be A Superhero: Laser tag turns out to be something altogether else as the group find themselves in Murderworld; split into teams, the group find themselves running first through an insane version of America's Next Top Model, then Survivor, and then Dancing With The Stars, with people apparently being permanently eliminated as they go; Yvette and Jean-Paul escape their confinement but find themselves avoiding Arcade's security systems; Julian, Callie and Tatiana make it to the end, being offered a 'prize' of becoming actual sponsored superheroes, which they refuse; Arcade releases everyone and Murderworld crumbles into rubble. Morgan tells Adrienne about her new job. Morgan visits Manuel to show him she's back from Africa in one piece and things get ugly when the idea of Laurie meeting Valentia is raised. Meggan goes to see Kurt after her adventure and winds up sleeping on his couch.

Feb 4 - Walking Ghosts: Callisto encounters Nathan out by the lake, uncovering the Thermopylae marker and he tells her about child soldiers. Mark announces the reopening of Silver. In Spain, Amanda and Angelo track down an old servant of the de la Rocha family and get Valentia's story; later, Amanda has nightmares prompted by the discussion of Alphonso de la Rocha. Yvette emails the rest of the New Mutants from laser tag and asks them if they're okay; Manuel drops by on Jean-Paul with Valentia to find out what happened. The Orchid: En route to Madripoor, Scott and Jean discuss the irony of Scott going to help his father and reveal Robert Haverford is loose again; Scott and Jean arrive in Madripoor to discover Haverford has apparently stolen papers from Chris Summers; Scott stakes out Haverford's hotel, but something goes wrong and he vanishes; a furious Jean is able to pull a clue from Chris' head - the location of an orchid said to possess mystical powers. Jean-Paul offers to treat Lil to dinner and suggests making it a New Mutants event. Inez complains about the field trip, arousing Nori's curiosity. Lil invites Bishop for drinks and offers him crash space; Bishop spends the night with Lil. Jean-Paul makes his report on the field trip to x_staff. Cammie meets Amara while she is baking and awkward conversation ensues.

Feb 5 - In the middle of the night, Cammie's bleach is stolen by a poltergeist with a green energy signature and chases it to Callie's room; Callie reports a bleach spill in her room over night; Kyle asks which of the telekinetics is having night time issues. Amanda announces she and Angelo are heading back from Spain. Lil introduces Catseye - determined to not hunt mice after doing so proved her downfall in Murderworld - to peanut butter. Jean-Paul invites the New Mutants to sushi dinner the following week. Crystal seeks out Nathan again and invites him to her 21st birthday. Morgan mimics Catseye's powers and experiences life as a cat. Morgan spends the night with Sam and tells him about leaving. Amara walks in on Bishop in the shower after his night with Lil.

Feb 6 - The Orchid: Chris and Jean track Haverford to Borneo, where a possessed Scott appears and attacks them; Jean drives the body snatcher out with a deal and using Scott's fragmented memories, they are able to get a better idea of where Haverford has gone; they confront Haverford at Mount Kinabalu eating orchids and dump him a day's hike from civilisation. Jean-Paul emails Shiro about progress with Nori. Crystal announces her birthday plans for the next day - drinks at Harry's. Lil emails Amara, apologising for her guest of the other night, and asks Manuel for advice on a Valentine's gift for Bishop, but becomes prickly when he offers relationship advice; Lil goes to the gym to burn off her anger at Manuel. Julian asks Inez why she's angry at him and her jealousy is revealed. Bishop takes Manuel and Valentia out to get Manuel's pimp hat as per their bet before New Year's. Adrienne calls in her date raincheck with Morgan. Yvette mentions the fifth anniversary of Red X is that day. Jay posts Shakespeare to his journal. Morgan talks to Amanda about a place to live. Garrison picks up Logan from the airport.

Feb 7 - Walking Ghosts: Sleeping at the boathouse, Jean-Paul experiences one of Nathan's nightmares and Nathan is angry when pressed to talk about it and throws him out; Angelo and Jean-Paul conspire to not leave Nathan to sleep alone; Nathan is less than impressed that Angelo will be sleeping on the couch. Jubilee announces she's off on a trip. The Orchid: On the plane back, Jean and Scott discuss the ethical murkiness of leaving Haverford in the jungle but decide there wasn't anything else to do. Angelo gives Manuel the information found on Valentia in Spain. Bishop and Lil talk about her issues about relationships after a shopping trip; Lil sends Valentia a Chicken Dance Elmo. Wanda announces a Sunday dinner for all of X-Force. Adrienne leaves Lil a t-shirt. Morgan lets the self-defence class know she's leaving. Scott and Jean-Paul compare weeks. Lil and Amara share a bottle of wine and girl talk. Morgan runs into Logan and winds up losing a sparring session.

Feb 8 - Laurie updates her trip to do list. Walking Ghosts: Jean-Paul leaves a journal note that he's having to look after a sick friend for a few days and emails Jean, Angelo and Scott to let them know Nathan's taken off; Nathan heads to the Adirondacks for ice-climbing and is intercepted by Jean-Paul half way there; after a day of climbing, Nathan finally tells Jean-Paul what happened on the SHIELD mission - capture by the Taygetos operatives, the death of the SHIELD team and an entire squadron of child operatives gunned down with Nathan to prevent potential contamination by the Trojan Horse program. Laurie asks Forge for a Danger Room evaluation and gets a lecture on being afraid of her powers. Lil needs shoes to go with the dress she plans to wear on a date with Bishop to Silver's reopening. Adrienne admires Lil's new shirt, which she is wearing. Manuel asks Callie to babysit again on Friday. Morgan texts Laurie, asking for furnishing help. Jubilee has a solo mission in Rome to test her progress. Cammie and Morgan have a parting bout of snark, with Cammie being contemptuous of Morgan's former prostitution.

Feb 9 - Walking Ghosts: Nathan discusses his next steps with Jean-Paul and decides to return to Muir for a little while to decompress; Nathan returns to a most unhappy Angelo and explanations are given. Omikami no Isan: Scott and Garrison confer with Shiro on a series of killings of mutants in Japan and it's decided to go and investigate; Scott summons the team. Lil and Tabitha discuss cars and Lil decides to borrow Logan's motorcycle. Callisto becomes the new self-defence teacher and Morgan runs her through things. Laurie calls Manuel about the conversation with Morgan and they fight; Laurie texts Morgan later, outraged. Angelo and Lil meet in the gym and discuss her mentoring Inez and maybe Yvette. Yvette discovers Logan is back and welcomes him home in an uncharacteristic fashion.

Feb 10 - Omikami no Isan: En route to Japan, Shiro realises the Hand is responsible for the killings; the X-Men discover the Hand is seeking three ancient artefacts, hidden inside three individuals, to raise their god; the three guardians are approached and agree to let the X-Men protect them. Catseye asks Cammie to teach her how to eat like a normal person and Cammie suggests perhaps bleach isn't a good start. Logan and Lil catch up on the smoker's porch. Before heading to Muir Island, Nathan talks to Julian about his night time powers flares; Jean-Paul stops by and makes sure Julian is coming to the New Mutants sushi dinner. Logan notes someone's been using his motorcycle while he's been gone and Lil confesses. Amanda runs into Cammie and introduces herself. Nathan announces his imminent departure for Muir Island. Manuel asks who is going to the reopening of Silver. Illyana makes one of her very 'her' posts, with mixed reception. Marie-Ange teaches Jubilee to make milkshakes with protein powder to avoid the fridge raids. Monet is frustrated with Elpis work and shares with Angelo a image of herself as a 40 foot tall mutant monster woman squashing annoying people underfoot.

Feb 11 - Amara emails Adrienne, asking for fashion advice for the Silver night out. Lil asks for investors for the T-Shirt Hell closure. Kyle emails Forge from Japan about having his Valentine's Day plans finalised already. Lil and Forge meet in the garage, get off on the wrong foot and then start over. Jean-Paul and Sam talk family. Wanda and Lil meet and bond over tall women's shoes. Cammie asks about thrift stores for clothes. Angelo takes Amanda out to dinner - to Jean-Paul's restaurant in Montreal, where they eat with the owner. Callie and Cammie have an awkward conversation over laundry. Scott encounters Cammie drooling over his bike and they chat. Omikami no Isan: The X-Men are ambushed by ninjas and the three people they're guarding taken; tracking the Hand down, the X-Men manage to rescue two of the three guardians, but one is killed. Scott talks to Jean-Paul about things when he gets back and gets the news about Nathan's 'consulting job' with SHIELD.

Feb 12 - Callie and Amara bond over Valentine's cookies. Jean-Paul invites Cammie down to dinner experiments. Doug wonders if Emma bought Mark a nude picture of Madonna. After sushi, Jean-Paul and Lil discuss their Valentine's Day plans.

Feb 13 - Omikami no Isan: Shiro makes his report. Lil runs into Cammie while testing out her new heels and they chat, the topic of being overwhelmed with kindness coming up. Midsummer's Nightmare: Jan inadvertently curses the play by mentioning the Scottish play by name during rehearsals. Adrienne gets caught leaving t-shirts for Cammie and tries to offer her a job. Silver reopens and Manuel, Jean-Paul, Lil, Bishop, Adrienne and Morgan all enjoy themselves in various ways; Julian and Scott talk about the field trip.

Feb 14 - Very late after the party at Silver, Vanessa invites Sam over and tells him all about her past as a prelude to becoming 'officially' a couple. Cammie makes a quarantine/bio-hazard sign for her door. Valentia helps Manuel get dressed for the day and they run into Bishop. Callie brings Lil a Valentine's cookie to thank her for dinner. Shiro and Jean-Paul try to escape Valentine's Day by going for pizza, but a power failure and Celine Dion on the radio make things much more Valentine-y than they wanted.

Feb 15 - Monet describes her Valentine's Day and announces she needs cake for her birthday. Logan and Jean-Paul meet up and talk Alpha Flight history. Callie offers her leftover Valentine's cookies to all. Adrienne talks to Clarice about her fashion design interests. Wanda announces a birthday party for herself the next weekend. Jean-Paul picks up Nathan from the airport and during conversation later confesses his attraction to Shiro.

Feb 16 - Crystal leaves Cammie a box of clothes along with some treats, but with no name; Cammie thanks her mysterious benefactor. Cammie and Lil discuss the evil t-shirt fairy. Daniel wandering New York, encounters Amara and flirts with her. Kyle talks to Nathan about the SHIELD report that's been put up on the team comms. Laurie entertains Catseye with a laser pen and they talk about her trip. Kyle brings Jay food and their predatory instincts clash; Jay confronts Paige, demanding to know where his original wings are and is enraged to find they were burned, with Paige throwing him out of her lab and alerting Forge; encountering Yvette, Jay demands she cut off his metal wings and when she refuses, Forge steps in to distract him while Yvette fetches help in the form of Logan; Logan drags Jay down to the Danger Room and beats the aggression out of him and later, he and Jean discuss potential therapy options with a now-sated Jay; Catseye seeks out Forge and he tells her he can fix Jay; Catseye asks on the journals if Jay is all right; smelling blood, Catseye checks on Kyle. Wanda comes to Adrienne's office and falls in love with the clothes offered. Vanessa's mercenary friend Eamon comes to the school looking for her and meets a flirty Laurie instead. Cammie meets Nathan as he practices his firebird construct and winds up soaked.

Feb 17 - Jean posts an update, letting people know Jay's had something of a breakthrough and will be released from medlab, but to be non-confrontational with him. Cammie meets Garrison and discovers his powers and skill make him a perfect defence teacher for her. Jean-Paul hits a nerve when the topic of parenthood comes up with Lil. Morgan talks to Nathan about retiring from mercenary work and winds up talking about his deeper issues instead. Manuel emails a number of people: Dani to ask her to come back, which she agrees to; Amanda to thank her for Valentia's papers; Laurie regarding the conversation with Charles about her powers and Valentia, which starts another sniping match; and Leonard, to seek help for Valentia. Kurt checks on how Cammie is adjusting to the mansion.

Feb 18 - Jubilee breaks into North's apartment to snoop and winds up having a revealing conversation. Cammie runs into a surly Jay in the kitchen late at night. Manuel goads a grumpy Lil over breakfast. Laurie and Morgan have lunch and try to avoid talking about Morgan's boyfriend or Laurie's interest in Eamon. Jean-Paul rescues Amara from the rowing machine and talks to her about her plans to join the X-Men. Jean-Paul brings Lil apology chocolate for upsetting her the previous day. Callie gets asked out by one of the boys in the play and later asks the journals what to wear, receiving conflicting responses. Operation: Anansesem: Doug realists the symbols they saw in Africa are the same ones seen in the the sewers. Jane needs help with her zipper, given the broken arm. Laurie comments on being thrown in the lake and her date with Eamon. Garrison and Lil catch up while she's working the bar at Harry's and he gives her relationship advice. It's the anniversary of Adrienne's husband's death and she spends it with Morgan.

Feb 19 - Yvette emails Kevin to tell him about Jay. Kyle and Cammie discuss eating habits. Logan and Lil spar and go for beer afterwards; on her way back to her room after sparring, Lil runs into Callie and gives her advice on dating. Doug and North spar in the Danger Gym and get to know each other's powers a bit better. Nathan and Jean-Paul are playing pool and encounter Jack being his typical abrasive self. Amara returns the dress she borrowed from Adrienne and receives some fashion advice and another loan.

Feb 20 - Forge is working in the garage when Dani comes home and they talk about the changes in her; Angel visits Forge in the garage and they talk about being an X-Man. Yvette and Cammie talk powers in the kitchen. En route to Ireland with Laurie, Morgan emails Monet to get the scoop on Kurt. Jean-Paul and Jean-Phillipe talk about being gay mutants. Kurt and Monet agree to join Laurie on her trip when she gets somewhere warm and then go down to Boiler Beach, traumatising Kyle by making out. Jean-Paul and Nathan go out shopping for Rachel's bedroom set and traumatise the local bigots. Cammie and Julian watch martial arts TV and joke around about her origins. Laurie and Mogan are stuck waiting for a plane and a debate breaks out about whether her using her powers to calm people down is an abuse or not. Lil drops by the Snow Valley offices looking for Bishop and meets Amanda.

Feb 21 - Scorpion and Fox: Peter Lakatos turns up in New York, telling Scott of a vision he's had involving fighting Nimrod in the next few days there. Nathan comes to visit Manuel and Valentia and is vaguely horrified at Manuel's parenting. Jean-Paul and Tabitha run into each other in the sunroom and chat.

Feb 22 - Wanda has her birthday party at Finnegans. Cammie is bored. Scorpion and Fox: Scott briefs a team to the Nimrod threat and has a rather tense discussion with Kurt about his issues with Mystique; scoping out the FOH rally, Scott and Zanne find a dead body, proof something is going on; Kurt encounters Mystique, who tells him the FoH have kidnapped a mutant child and she needs his help; Kurt has a brief argument with Lakatos and leaves his post to help the child; Kurt discovers Mystique lied to him, that the child is the son of a prominent anti-mutant politician, and 'ports him and his mother to the nearest police station out of harm's way; Scott and Zanne run down Nimrod but fare badly as Lakatos manages to stop Nimrod killing Scott; Kurt 'ports back just in time to face down Mystique, who uses Scott as a shield to get away; Forge makes the report that Nimrod and Mystique escaped and Scott, Zanne and Lakatos are all injured. Scott is woozy and second-guesses himself later, being treated by Jean; Forge congratulates Kurt on getting over his mother issues. Adrienne and Lil discuss anniversaries.

Feb 23 - Yvette trains in control with Emma, who asks her some difficult questions. Midsummer's Nightmare: At rehearsals, a sandbag falls to the stage missing Angel, Callie and Yvette, the rope having been cut and Yvette assumes it was an accident with her powers. Cammie gets a makeover from Clarice. Jean-Paul explains an 'accident' whilst painting Rachel's room. Logan talks to Scott about rejoining the team.

Feb 24 - Lil demands pancakes and other breakfast foods for Shrove Tuesday. Jean-Paul experiments with Cammie's particular tastes in food. Angel talks to Kyle about becoming an X-Man and then races him back to the house; Kyle contests Angel's victory on the journals and lakes her; Angel retaliates by hanging his pants on the flagpole. Manuel asks for someone to teach him how to use a washing machine. Cammie meets Manuel and Valentia in the rec room and isn't impressed. Kyle is unimpressed by Guitar Hero's song choices. Emma meets with Doug and Marie-Ange and undoes what she did to Doug's mind in October. Jean-Paul hides from Nathan's wrath in Shiro's room and they talk art.

Feb 25 - Jean-Paul realises he isn't going to get anywhere with Shiro. Lil's wedding anniversary and she spends it in her room; Logan comes by to try and shake her out of her funk, with only initial success; Cammie suggests sparring for when Lil is up for it; after a message left by her ex-husband, Lil trashes her room and Amara gets Jean-Paul, who is able to talk her down. Julian asks Angel on a date. Kurt tells his family history and declares he has no parents. Scott brings in Jean as a ringer for his weekly pool game with Jean-Paul, and Jean-Paul asks some questions about getting the records from his parents' fatal accident. Adrienne is gleeful about the start of baseball season. Manuel thanks Jean-Paul for his help with laundry, tries to mend bridges with Morgan and tells Amanda to visit. Morgan emails Sam to let him she's on her way home.

Feb 26 - Lil emails Kyle, asking him for help with new furniture and spackle, plus a new phone. Jean-Paul emails Nathan about hanging out. Julian emails Nathan, asking permission to take Angel off grounds on their date.

Feb 27 - Lil emails Forge about a new phone. Kyle complains about an internet meme. Jane is silly and quotes Les Miserables, confusing her roommate, Cammie. Morgan texts Adrienne to let her know she's back in the country. Julian impresses Angel on their date when he charters a plane. Zanne and Jean-Paul talk for the first time since Murderworld about their various employments and opportunities.

Feb 28 - Scorpion and Fox: Scott and Kurt talk about his abandonment of his teammate during the New York mission and determine he will remain on the team. Jean-Paul and Nathan talk about survivor's guilt and having reasons to go on. Cammie spars with Logan and learns a few lessons. Monet talks to Kurt about his post and Mystique and cheers him up in her own unique way. Jan wonders about leap year birthdays. Clarice is unimpressed by the Jonas Brothers and their fans, leading to a discussion of purity rings. Amanda babysits for Valentia while Manuel naps and later he finds himself acting as a dance instructor to his sister.

Plots

So You Want To Be A Superhero

Walking Ghosts

The Orchid

Omikami no Isan

Scorpion and Fox

External Links

February 2009