The blackness started to slip away as a warm vibration filled my body. Opening my eyes I saw Elixir kneeling next to me, touching my shoulder, healing me. Nightcrawler was standing next to him, shaking his head. Using my vast leadership training, I quickly glanced around the battlefield to take an assessment of our situation.

It looked like things were starting to go pretty well with the battle against the Brotherhood. Jean had fried Magneto pretty good, though I didn't see him anywhere. Vegeta gave Magneto's partner, Captain Comb-over, a real drubbing and then he somehow managed to move the Blob. Wolverine sliced off Henchman's arm. Kodiak was standing over a very still Avalanche. And best off all, Storm was still dazed from Jean's attack.

I could see that Jean was losing it though. Or losing it even more, at any rate. Looks like it was going to be up to me to try and talk her down. Seeing what I was up to, Vegeta unleashed some kind of green ray on me and I started floating. Maybe that guy's not so bad. He doesn't like Wolverine so he must be alright.

As I floated up to Jean, I bumped into Fred the Fox, standing on the roof of the White House.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Look Fred, I don't have time to talk to you right now! I have a team to lead!"

"It looks to me like your team has no intention of being led by you at the moment," he said, gesturing back down at the lawn.

I glanced down. Storm was up and around and barking out orders to the X-Men. My X-Men! And they were listening to her! Why does she always do that?! She's some kind of control freak! I'm the leader and they will listen to me! Damn!

I swooped down to Storm at top speed and blasted the ground near her.

"This is it Storm!" I shouted, landing in front of her. I raised my finger and wagged it in her face. "We settle this now! I am the leader!"

"Don't you think you have more important things to worry about?" she asked with that icy condescending voice of hers. "Like your wife?" She pointed up at Jean.

We both looked up and saw Jean talking to the fox. She seemed to be getting madder. Suddenly Jean started to fly away, right into some trap Gaia had set up. Before she did though, she threw a ball of fire straight at me!

"Holy crap!" I shouted, frozen in fear. Storm rushed at me, slamming hard into my chest, knocking the wind out of my lungs and sending me flying down onto my butt. She was lying on top of me as the blast exploded in the spot I had been. We lay there a moment, our noses almost touching and stared at each other.

"Uh, thanks," I finally said.

"So do we kill each other now?" she asked.

A loud crash from the White House made us turn our heads. In the now open doorway stood Magneto, Captain Koma, the First Lady and the President. The First Lady was holding a gun behind the President's head, though he didn't seem to notice. As we watched, the First Lady turned into Mystique.

Storm and I stood up and everyone on the lawn stopped fighting. All eyes were on Magneto. I could see all the news media set up around the battlefield were focusing their cameras and mikes at him now too. Then he spoke.

"Homo Sapiens, hear my words. By instituting this so called "cure" you have declared your intention to commit genocide on mutantkind. This will not stand! We shall rise up and defend ourselves as is the inviolable right of all living creatures. We shall not let ourselves be exterminated to allay your fears! If you wish to wage war against us, then so be it! The first casualty shall be your Command in Chief!"

Magneto turned to Mystique and nodded. She pulled back the hammer of the gun and held the barrel against the back of the President's head. With a strange howl, she raised the gun into the air and fired, just missing the President. Everyone gasped. The look on Mystique's contorted face was one of intense pain. Her body crumpled to the ground, revealing Wolverine standing behind her, his adamantium claws dripping with blood.

Then Wolverine lashed out at Magneto. His arm was stopped in mid swing though, just as the razor sharp claws were about to cut his head off. With a mania I have never seen before, Magneto gestured at Wolverine, forcing his arm towards the President. The tips of the claws drew closer and closer to his vulnerable neck.

I opened my visor wide and blasted Magneto full in the chest. He was sent crashing back into the building, unconscious. Wolverine, his face dripping with sweat, slid his claws back into the housing in his forearm. The President turned and saw his outstretched hand and shook it. With a big smile, he turned back and waved to the cameras.

Leaning back towards Wolverine, he whispered out of the side of his mouth, "Hey, where's Laura?"

Captain Koma took one look at the situation, fiddled with something on his belt, and then he, Henchman and the remains of his robot girlfriend vanished. As the authorities started putting the cuffs on the Brotherhood who were still standing, Private Hudson suddenly materialized in the middle of the ruined lawn. He held some kind of giant rifle in his hands and he was screaming.

"Ooh raaaa!!" he yelled, waving his gun around at the confused looking survivors.

"Stop! Stop" I cried, running over to him.

"I'm here to help Cyke! Let's blast some bad guys! Just tell me who to shoot!"

"It's over, it's over," I told him.

"Did we win?" he asked.

I nodded. We won.