Two humanoid men dressed in sharp military uniforms marched down the landing ramp of the large silvery spaceship. They both had some sort of fire-arms on their hips. I thought it best to not probe their minds at the moment, in case they could detect psionic activities and would take a telepathic scan as a hostile activity.

"Greetings, Professor Charles Francis Xavier. My name is Colonel Mensch and I bring you the warm salutations of Galacta, Queen of the Galaxy."

"I am most honored to be recognized by our galactic liege," I answered. "And to what, may I ask, do I owe this tremendous honor?"

"The Queen commands your presence at a Royal Audience."

I thought for a moment about my options. The Earth is under seige by an alien army lead by perhaps the most powerful being I have ever encountered. My people are scattered across the planet fighting for their very lives. My girlfriend is leading a large team into battle to defend the capital of the country. My school is in ruins and classes are scheduled to start in a couple of weeks.

But she is the Queen of the Galaxy. How can I refuse?

"Of course I will join you. How long do I have to prepare?"

"We leave immediately. You may pack what you need."

"Actually, all my things were destroyed a few days ago. What few things are left are still packed in those bags there. I never had a chance to unpack."

The Colonel snapped his fingers and a robot came skittering out of the ship and lifted up both of my large travel bags. I reached out telepathically to Cyclops.

"Scott, I am going to have to go off planet again for a few days and I want you to-"

"What!?" he screamed. "You can't! We're in the middle of a war! This crazy chick Magdalena doesn't know what she's doing and-"

"Scott! Get ahold of yourself. Magdalena is an excellent leader and she knows better than anyone the enemy you are facing. She will also better be able to lead the diverse team we have. The X-Men are trained to fight together but there are a lot of outsiders helping on this. Most people don't trust mutants. Even other heroes. They will accept Maggie and I want you to also."

"Well, okay, I guess."

"Good. Now then, I want you to-"

"But you can't leave! The aliens!"

"You can handle them. Our forces won in New York and you will win everywhere else, too."

"B-but . . but the school! We have to rebuld it. You have to do that!"

"Fat chance. You broke it, you fix it."

"What?! But . . but where will we stay? All the dorms were destroyed!"

"I have already booked rooms for you at the Motel 6 in town. You can stay there during construction."

"A Motel 6?"

"Suck it up, Scott. I have to go. Now listen carefully. What I want you to do is to protect Maggie and follow her lead. I'm counting on you. I also want you to take care of Arthur."

"Arthur? You mean that sidekick you picked up on that game show? You didn't give him back?"

"Sidekicks don't work like that. At least as far as I know. I've never had a sidekick before. Either way, take care of him. Make sure he gets enough food and exercise."

"Well, okay."

Whew. That took a lot longer than I thought it would. That Scott needs work.