Uncanny X-Men #318

In Salem Center, movers are in the process of removing the sign outside the mansion belonging to Charles Xavier that used to proclaim it as Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. It will now be known as the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. Angelo Espinosa is waiting at the front of the Institute. He intends to leave and head to John F. Kennedy International Airport, rather than join the new Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.

Unkind words of one of the movers stay with him as he walks a mile away from the Institute. He spots a car heading towards him and decides to hitch a lift to get to the airport on time. To his surprise the person driving the car is the Beast. After Henry asks if Angelo needs help, the young Mutant lists off all the bad things that have happened to him since he encountered the X-Men and declines McCoy’s offer of help.

Beast points out that there won’t be much traffic on the road that Angelo is walking along since it’s an access road, so Beast’s car might be his only chance to get to the airport. Angelo, grudgingly, gets into the car, but let’s Beast know he’s not willing to listen to anything Beast might want to say to try and change Angelo’s mind about leaving.

Inside the mansion, Cyclops is reflecting on the time that his and Phoenix’s minds spent two thousand years in the future. Scott feels guilty that he lied to Nathan Dayspring when he told the boy that he’d never be alone, before Scott and Jean’s minds returned to their bodies in the present. Charles assures Scott that everyone knows his heart is always with Nathan, even when he can’t be with him.

Scott is still left wondering whether he should tell Cable that Scott and Jean are the people who raised him, when he lived in the future as a boy. Charles has accessed the ten years of memories that Scott and Jean experienced in the future, which has been taxing for him. Jean, also in the room, explains that they wanted to meet Charles after the Phalanx situation to inform him of potential information regarding the Legacy Virus. They feel that they may have seen the creation of the virus, before Stryfe had engineered it to target only Mutants.

Charles suddenly suffers a dizzy spell. He attributes it to the toll that losing his lifetime of information gathering, after it had to be destroyed by Banshee to keep it out of the hands of the Phalanx, has taken on him. He asks for some time alone so he can absorb the psionic information that’s been given to him. As Scott and Jean leave him, Charles wonders whether they really have reached a breakthrough with the Legacy Virus, but fears that there will be more suffering to come, particularly for Cyclops and Phoenix.

At Westchester Galleria, the members of the next generation of X-Men have gone clothes shopping. Jubilee, Monet St. Croix, Paige Guthrie and Everett Thomas are soon to start their first day at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. The cost of their new clothes shocks Paige, who insists that the price would feed her family for a month.

Monet insists on paying for everyone, which makes Everett feel a little uncomfortable. He suggests that not everyone likes things just being handed to them. Monet tells Everett that she’s being generous and it would be nice if he accepted graciously. She also recommends buying something that will fit him after his Mutant power sheds the added mass he gained after synching up with Sabretooth.

Observing all this from nearby are Banshee, Storm and Bishop. Banshee believes agreeing to be the Headmaster for the new Xavier’s School was a good decision. Bishop suggests that with his own experience in charge of the X.S.E. he thinks that untrained young Mutants will be tough to control. He suggests that Jubilee is unlikely to listen to authority, Paige desperately wants to be like Cannonball, Monet seems so in control of her powers that it’s unnerving, and Everett reminds Bishop of himself at the same age. This all causes Banshee to doubt himself, but Storm insists he will do a fine job.

In Beast’s car, the radio is playing. Beast sings along. This causes an outburst from Espinosa where he chastises him for not taking life seriously when there are people in the world who are starving and suffering. Beast gives a somewhat humorous response and Angelo experiences a burst of energy. Beast rapidly stops the car and checks on Espinosa. Espinosa explains that his skin sagging and growing can be controlled when he concentrates. His argument with Beast caused him to lose concentration. The two of them take a moment to gather themselves.

Back at the Xavier Estate, workers are putting a new sign in place which proclaims the mansion to now be the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, something that Emma Frost paid for and is overseeing. Bobby Drake skulks nearby until Emma confronts him. He demands to know how she used his powers in ways that he’d never been able to when she was in his mind and controlling his body.

Emma mocks Bobby, claiming that they both know why he’s never bothered to push his powers over the years. Emma then takes control of his powers again, forming his ice into jagged slivers. She asks if he really wants to learn how to do this himself. He replies that he does. So she tells him to learn to do it by himself. She’s shown him his potential, now it’s up to him to live up to it.

Meanwhile, Beast gives Angelo the keys to his car. He tells the young Mutant to drive the car wherever he wants. To find a place where happiness has no place and to hide there from the rest of the world if he wants to. And then send Beast a postcard. Angelo seems unmoved and drives off. Henry starts walking back home.

At the mansion, Jubilee takes one last look at the room that used to be hers. She reflects on how she first met and joined the X-Men in Australia after the death of her parents. She’s sad to be leaving. Her reverie is interrupted by Archangel. He wants to make sure she’s alright with making the transition from the X-Men to the new team.

He starts to offer help if she ever needs it, but Jubilee snaps at him about how he’s barely spoken to her in all the time she’s been part of the team. Warren admits that he’s not the most expressive person, but that he always cared about her. Jubilee often wondered why she never felt closer to her parents and she thinks it’s because she never told them how she felt. She urges Warren to let people in more and let them know how he feels. They then hug.

As day starts to turn to night, Gambit helps Scott move things into the Boat House, which is to be the new home for Scott and Jean. Gambit finds it funny that Scott relied on a known thief to help him move his belongings. Scott suggests that Remy is an ex-thief, but Remy says that the urge to steal is always there.

He also remarks how lucky Scott is to be married and have a past of which he’s not ashamed. Scott brings up Remy’s past marriage. Remy tells Scott that the marriage to Bella Donna wasn’t about love. He married her to stop their respective families from killing each other. Scott then asks if what Gambit has with Rogue is love, but Gambit avoids the subject.

Outside the mansion, Banshee is ready to drive to Massachusetts. He and Charles talk while waiting for Jubilee to be ready. The others have already gone ahead with Emma in her limousine. Charles tells Sean that there’s nobody else Charles would trust more as Headmaster of the new school. Sean isn’t sure if involving the White Queen was a good idea though. Charles insists that this is just what Emma needs to show the kind of better person she can be and to help her to cope with the death of the Hellions. He thinks Sean and Emma will do fine with the new school.

Jubilee arrives and says her goodbyes to Charles. She asks him not to say anything or it’ll make her start crying. She thanks him for knowing when to hold on and when to let go. She and Banshee then drive away. Suddenly another car arrives, being driven by Angelo Espinosa. Angelo has changed his mind and wants to join the new school. Charles says that both he and Sean will be happy for him to join and he can catch up with the others if he hurries. As the sun sets, Charles Xavier reflects that maybe his students have more to teach him than he could ever teach them and that it’s the way it should be.