"Dreams Fade"
writer
Fabian Nicieza
artist
Andy Kubert
The Acolytes and many other mutants rejoiced with the return of their messiah (X-Factor 92). Not the X-Men. The tension could be felt in Xavier’s mansion. That tension intensified when Magneto tried to recruit members of X-Force to join his new fortress orbitiing Earth, called Avalon, built from the remains of time-traveller Cable’s secret base, Graymalkin(X-Force 25). The X-Men were again hit with a Magneto attack when he approached them during a funeral outside the mansion (Uncanny X-Men 304). In an awesome display of power, he let his new fortress hover over them. The X-Men survived this confrontation, which made them more worried about what his arrival could mean.
The world governments felt the same way. But they decided to act.
The UN had spent years developing the Magneto Protocols, methods of which to fight Magneto. When they realized Magneto was alive, they initiated the preliminary levels of the Protocols. This consisted of various sattelites positioned around the earth, creating a kind of forcefield that would render Magneto powerless if he tried to pass through.
. This was supposed to be a secret, noticeable only if Magneto tried to “cross the Rubicon” into the Earth’s atmosphere. He found out anyway.
“In many ways, he admires and appreciates the inventiveness of the human’s gambit,” writes Fabian Nicieza. “But ultimately, it is an affront he cannot abide, for it will disrupt his ability to recruit new converts to his flock.” So in a very ruthless act, he sent a pulse wave, electromagnetic energy that wipes out electricity, throughout the entire earth.
. “What kind of terroism is a blackout?” you ask. Not your ordinary power outage during a hot summer. This pulse wave turned off anything electronic like planes and medical equipment.
“We fear many hundreds, perhaps thousands have died,” said Xavier.
In one felt swoop, Magneto effectively crippled the entire planet. But while it stood still, it was Xavier’s turn to act. He gathered a special team to retaliate.
Wait a minute. The deed was done. There’s nobody to save anymore. Magneto, despite what he’d just done, wasn’t currently threatening anyone. So what exactly did Xavier have in mind?
“You know exactly what I am saying,” Xavier explained. “We do not have the luxury of time, nor the occasion for nobility. . .at this point we are not fighting for the philosophy of a cause, a hope, or a dream. We are fighting for our very survival. And if we do not win, this planet will be irrevocably lost to us!”
It sounds like self-defense. Stepping back and seeing what had happened, it looked like self-defense. But what it was was an assasination plot.
The climax of “Deams Fade” was an intense battle. Yet the amount of mutant powers being discharged paled in comparison to the tension and emotions building in the space station. It was with this battle that Wolverine lost his metallic bones and almost became an animal. In a way this was also where Xavier lost his wooden, noble exterior and became a bit nasty.
“You have killed too many, Magnus,” Xavier screamed in an intense moment he would regret forever, “and I have had enough!! I will make sure. . . that you NEVER kill again!!”
And with that he did the closest thing to murder a telepath can commit.
If that act hadn’t come back to haunt Xavier (in the Onslaught crossover), I would’ve applauded him.
Fatal Attractions
X-Factor 92
X-Force 45
Uncanny X-Men 304
X-Men 25
Wolverine 75