Marvel Girl: Like A Phoenix, pages 27-30 (conclusion)

PAGES TWENTY-SEVEN & TWENTY-EIGHT

(Double-spread.)

Panel 1
Jean Grey sitting down with Cerebro again, transmitting to all mutants.

CAPTION: It’s been a long road. For a long time we were told that we weren’t a part of humankind. That we were separate. We even told ourselves the same things.

Panel 2
Xorn healing Professor Xavier.

Panel 3
Jean with Cerebro.

CAPTION: Now, I think, we can begin to see that this was a mistake. When we reached our greatest crisis, it wasn’t a fight, which those of us who are X-Men have experienced so many times in the past, those of the Brotherhood, those of every label we have given ourselves, and have been given.

Panel 4
Xorn healing Mystique.

Panel 5
Jean with Cerebro.

CAPTION: We faced an extinction that was nothing more than a virus, one that targeted the x-gene, and it didn’t discriminate between factions, it didn’t pick sides. And to forestall the inevitable we were forced into isolation, cut off from each other.

Panel 6
Xorn healing Jubilee.

Panel 7
Jean with Cerebro.

CAPTION: And the rest of humanity responded much as they always had. There was fear, of course, but I realized something else about the reaction, too. The isolation went both ways.

Panel 8
Xorn heals Multiple Man.

Panel 9
Jean with Cerebro.

CAPTION: I went to the Avengers with my plan in the first place, not because I wanted their help, but to hear what they would say about it. They said it was crazy. Not one of them offered to help. And I thought to myself, that’s the problem right there.

Panel 10
Xorn stands in front of Multiple Man as he creates a duplicate.

Panel 11
Jean with Cerebro

CAPTION: Why does it have to be that way?

Panel 12
Xorn surrounded by dozen of Multiple Men.


PAGE TWENTY-NINE

Panel 1 (splash)
Jean Grey stands in front of the Avengers (the same set I’ve been presenting all along, Sue Storm among them).

JEAN GREY: I’d like to join.


PAGE THIRTY

Panel 1
Jean Grey and Jenny Storm in front of an apartment door, which is closed.

JENNY STORM: I don’t know. You really think so?

Panel 2
Jenny is knocking on the door.

JENNY STORM: “The Human Torch.” It’d take some getting used to.

JENNY STORM: I mean, I only just got used to the powers.

JENNY STORM: And the idea of knowing who my dad is.

Panel 3
The door opens. Johnny Storm is on the other side.

Panel 4
Johnny and Jenny are hugging.

Panel 5
Close- up of Jean, looking wistful.

Panel 6
Looking down, now outside on the street, as Jean looks upward as twin streaks of flame shoot toward the reader.

JOHNNY & JENNY: Flame on!

Panel 7
Jean, alone in the panel except random New Yorkers streaming around her, not paying any attention to her, same shot as before otherwise, from a distance.

JEAN GREY: ...Rise.

END

Marvel Girl: Like A Phoenix, page 26

PAGE TWENTY-SIX

Panel 1
The Avengers arrive, represented by Iron Man,Thor and Wasp, swooping downward from the sky.

IRON MAN: Thought it over.

IRON MAN: Yeah, not really keen on a homicidal maniac being loose, Jean.

Panel 2
The rest of the Avengers (Captain America, Spider-Man and Wolverine) arriving at the field (I know it’s tradition for a whole team to somehow show up together despite widely disparate modes of travel, but that’s not gonna happen, regardless of how cool it looks, here).

SPIDER-MAN: Wow! She really did it! Points for psychopathic bravery!

CAPTAIN AMERICA: Jean, are you absolutely sure about this?

WOLVERINE: Told you it was a tough sell, darlin’.

Panel 3
Jean Grey, her contingent of Xorn, Jenny Storm, Kali and Chamber still surrounding her, stands up to the Avengers, now assembled together, defiantly.

JEAN GREY: I told you I had this.

JEAN GREY: The matter is entirely under control.

Panel 4
Spotlight on Xorn, placing his hands in the air.

XORN: It’s all right Jean. They have every reason to doubt me.

XORN: That is why, as a gesture of good faith, I will surrender myself to them.

XORN: And then we can get on with it.

Panel 5
Sue Storm is arriving, sort of between the two parties, as Thor walks Xorn to the Avengers side. Jenny is looking anxiously at Sue.

SUE STORM: There.

SUE STORM: This nonsense is finished. Time to worry about real problems.

Panel 6
Sue and Jenny are embracing in this group shot encompassing everyone from a distance.

Marvel Girl: Like A Phoenix, pages 23-25

PAGE TWENTY-THREE

Panel 1
A huge burst of light as Kali infuses life back into Magneto, his body jolting.

Panel 2
Gray-scale as we and Jean Grey enter Magneto’s mind. In this frame Magneto is depicted as the small boy he was at Auschwitz. Jean’s comforting hand in on his shoulder.

JEAN GREY: Erik?

Panel 3
Gray-scale continues. Magneto has reverted to his usual appearance, as we last saw him. No helmet. Jean is not fazed by the sudden shift. Her hand remains on his shoulder, as he peers at it, sneering.

MAGNETO: You did it, didn’t you?

MAGNETO: You killed me. And then you brought me back.

MAGNETO: And now you’re inside my mind, hoping you can talk me out of my revenge.

Panel 4
Gray-scale continues. Jean and Magneto are now dressed in civilian clothing. Jean’s hand is no longer on Magneto’s shoulder.

JEAN GREY: I’m here, Erik, because I want to talk.

JEAN GREY: All these years, all this violence, what has it really gotten you?

Panel 5
Gray-scale continues. Close-up on Jean.

JEAN GREY: What if you tried a different way?

JEAN GREY: What if you were the man you once imagined yourself to be?

Panel 6
Gray-scale continues. Close-up of Magneto.

MAGNETO: Dear child...

MAGNETO: I was never allowed to become that man.

Panel 7
Gray-scale continues. A distant shot of Jean and Magneto.

JEAN GREY: That doesn’t mean you can’t try.


PAGE TWENTY-FOUR

Panel 1
Back in the real world, Magneto is sitting up. We see that Jean Grey has collapsed in the field not far away.

Panel 2
Magneto is holding his helmet.

Panel 3
We see the helmet changing shape as he stares at it in seeming anger.

Panel 4
He has placed the helmet back on. But it is a totally different helmet now. He is Xorn once again...!

XORN: Well, then.


PAGE TWENTY-FIVE

Panel 1
Xorn walks over to the prone Jean Grey.

XORN: Jean...

Panel 2
As Kali watches anxiously from the side, Xorn places his hands on Jean, who looks back at him in concern. She’s still not sure the plan worked.

Panel 3
Xorn’s healing touch is causing Jean’s body to jerk.

XORN: You gambled that you could find the good in me. You risked everything. This Phoenix gambit of yours had finally stretched too thin. If you hadn’t been right...

Panel 4
Jean sitting up on her own, Xorn stepping back.

JEAN GREY: I’d be dead. Permanently.

Panel 5
A group shot of Xorn, Jean, Kali, Chamber and Jenny Storm, standing in the field together. A triumphant moment. But Jean is looking off in the distant sky.

JEAN GREY: It’s not over yet.

Marvel Girl: Like A Phoenix, page 22

PAGE TWENTY-TWO

Panel 1
Kali is crouched next to Magneto’s body as Jean Grey continues to float above them.

KALI: You know, it’s one thing to know the plan. It’s quite another to be here now, enacting it.

KALI: This man was a bastard.

Panel 2
Close-up of Dead Magneto’s face.

KALI (o.p.): I say let him stay dead.

Panel 3
Close-up of Kali, looking grim.

KALI: Plus, no matter how much I think about it, how long it’s been since you first came to me, I revive him and I am convinced he’s going to come back as crazy as ever. Crazier.

Panel 4
Close-up of Jean, resolved.

JEAN GREY: I can handle this man.

Panel 5
Panning back out, we see Magneto’s helmet sliding off his head.

Panel 6
The helmet is now within Jean’s reach. We see the whole tableau again.

JEAN GREY: Do it.

Panel 7
Close-up of Kali placing her hands on Magneto’s body.

KALI: Right...

Marvel Girl: Like A Phoenix, page 21

PAGE TWENTY-ONE

Panel 1
We’ve panned out again. Jean Grey and Magneto have landed in a field with a crater around them.

Panel 2
Jean is standing while Magneto remains prone. We can see Kali in the distance, walking toward them.

Panel 3
Jean is floating above as Kali approaches.

KALI: Wish I could say I wish things hadn’t worked out like we planned.

Panel 4
Kali is bending toward Magneto.

KALI: But he’s dead, isn’t he?

Panel 5
Jean, above. Kali has craned her head to look up at her.

JEAN GREY: He left me no choice.

JEAN GREY: But we will be in a far better position to talk reasonably now.

Panel 6
Kali looks back down grimly.

KALI: Let’s hope.

KALI: It’ll still be Magneto.

KALI: Right?

Marvel Girl: Like A Phoenix, pages 18-20

PAGE EIGHTEEN

Panel 1
Magneto’s chaos continues. We see people knocked down and bloodied everywhere as metal objects continue to fly, although in this wide shot we see Magneto gesturing to move them and Jean Grey gesturing to divert them, and various people reacting accordingly.

Panel 2
Tighten in on Jean so we see over her shoulder, where we see Chamber and Jenny in the distance.

Panel 3
Chamber has rushed to the scene ahead of Jenny and is unleashing his flames.

Panel 4
Magneto has already seen him and sent a large assortment of flying metal objects his way, too many for Jean to completely divert or Chamber to handle. There is a smug look on Magneto’s face.

Panel 5
Jenny has arrived. She looks scared. Chamber has fallen in the meantime.

Panel 6
Jean Grey smirking as she looks toward Jenny.

JEAN GREY: Jenny?

JEAN GREY: It’s showtime.


PAGE NINETEEN

Panel 1 (splash)
Jenny bursts into flame.

JENNY STORM: Flame on!


PAGE TWENTY

Panel 1
Jenny and Jean Grey have tackled Magneto and are flying him away from the scene. There is a surprised look on his face. Various metal objects are melting around them.

Panel 2
A wide shot as the trio continues to hurtle into the air. In the distant we can see that Chamber has recovered and is once again unleashing his flames from a distance.

MAGNETO: This is madness!

Panel 3
Jenny is separating herself from the pack.

JEAN GREY: It hurts like hell every time I have to do this. Lately it can’t be helped, but in this instance I figured it could be put to good use.

Panel 4
Jean bursts into flame as her Phoenix resurrection is once again triggered.

Marvel Girl: Like A Phoenix, page 17

PAGE SEVENTEEN

Panel 1
Metal spikes impaling Larry at nonlethal points.

Panel 2
Magneto, various metal objects spinning around him.

MAGNETO: I do so hope my point has not been made yet.

Panel 3
Metal objects hurling at the rally-goers.

Panel 4
Metal object ramming into someone’s face. Feel free to add obligatory teeth sailing out of mouth.

Panel 5
Close-up of Magneto, smiling.

Panel 6
Fleeing rally-goers, metal objects pursuing them.

Panel 7
Jean Grey has appeared on the scene. At the moment she seems to be alone.

JEAN GREY: Magneto, stop this.

Panel 8
Magneto, if anything looking happier, or smug. Judgment call.

MAGNETO: My dear, I’m just getting warmed up.

Panel 9
Close-up of Jean.

JEAN GREY: Funny you should say that.

Marvel Girl: Like A Phoenix, page 16

PAGE SIXTEEN

Panel 1
Close-up of staples flying out of one of the signs.

Panel 2
Tracking the staples through the air.

Panel 3
These staples join more staples.

Panel 4
The staples start to lose shape as they merge together.

Panel 5
They are now in the shape of a bullet.

Panel 6
Largest panel on the page. Wide shot of Magneto arriving at the rally, holding his hand up, the bullet floating just above it.

MAGNETO: Is that what they’re saying?

Marvel Girl: Like A Phoenix, page 15

PAGE FIFTEEN

Panel 1
The main speaker at the rally is the father of Fish, the “I was watching sports!” guy, who turns out to be a forty-year-old overweight balding guy named Larry.

LARRY: My son died because of this.

Panel 2
Larry continues to talk.

LARRY: My home was broken into by a mutant, my sanctuary violated. The kid thought it was just some stupid prank. This mutant bullied my son at school every day. That’s the kind of people they are, folks. Bullies. And they want our sympathy!

Panel 3
Larry continues to talk.

LARRY: This mutant had the ability to make small inconveniences happen. I know, it sounds ridiculous. But it’s true. I am not a careless man, folks. I am master of my domain. The night my son died, everything went wrong. My television randomly switched off CourtCenter and started playing An Everyday Affair, which I can guarantee you I had never watched a day in my life until that night. Maybe my wife did. But never again, not after that night, folks.

Panel 4
Larry continues to talk.

LARRY: My son was special.

Panel 5
Larry continues to talk.

LARRY: He excelled at everything he did. He was an Olympic caliber swimmer. I swear he was amphibious, as comfortable underwater as he was in a classroom, where he was an A student, in everything he pursued. His classmates were in awe of him, and not a day goes by since his murder that one of them doesn’t come up to me with another precious anecdote about him.

Panel 6
Larry continues to talk.

LARRY: And a mutant took him from me.

Panel 7
Larry continues to talk.

LARRY: Now, the irony of all this is that God had finally passed judgment on them. God had finally seen fit to wipe their scourge from the face of the planet. God had sent a plague upon them. And they went into their homes to finally die, in private.

Panel 8
Larry continues to talk.

LARRY: But of course they weren’t satisfied with that. They weren’t satisfied with the almighty judgment leveled against them. They still couldn’t behave themselves! They still had to unleash their plague against us!

Panel 9
Larry continues to talk.

LARRY: And it was my son, this time, who paid the price. This is what we are fighting, folks. Never forget.

Marvel Girl: Like A Phoenix, page 14

PAGE FOURTEEN

Panel 1
A middle-aged couple in a car. These are the parents of Fish from a few pages ago. The mom is crying, the dad looks angry.

CAPTION: Having the ability to get inside someone’s head isn’t always as great as it seems.

Panel 2
Focus on the dad.

CAPTION: It’s not always about the handy ability to learn something valuable. Sometimes, and it’s as true when you’re learning about this ability and just trying to control it, as it is later, that you’re exposed to things you’d rather not hear.

CAPTION: Anger, for instance.

Panel 3
Focus on the mom.

CAPTION: And sadness.

CAPTION: There’s no way to prepare for that. The depth of human emotion is always the toughest thing to handle because in many way, it’s the most real thing about us, and the most essential. There’s no way to separate it from the rest of our thought processes. And it dominates.

Panel 4
The mom and dad are getting out of their car.

CAPTION: That’s something I try to remind myself, as often as I can.

Panel 5
We watch as they approach a mass gathering from behind. We can see the backs of signs.

CAPTION: You can’t blame people for their reactions. They can only base them off what they know. Ignorance comes in many forms. I would know.

Panel 6
The parents standing in the crowd. Signs are now visible, reading slogans like “Mutants Deserve To Die,” “No More Mutants,” “The World Belongs To Humans.”

CAPTION: The challenge is to help them understand things better, even when they’re adamant they already know everything they need to know.

CAPTION: Even when they participate in something like this.

CAPTION: And you know with absolute certainty that it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

Marvel Girl: Like A Phoenix, page 13

PAGE THIRTEEN

Panel 1
Professor X sitting in an empty classroom at the Institute, staring out at all the empty seats.

CAPTION: It happened so suddenly, and quickly.

Panel 2
Professor X wheeling out of the classroom into an empty hall.

CAPTION: A mutant spontaneously burst into flames.

Panel 3
Professor X continues through the empty halls of the Institute.

CAPTION: After a few more reported instances, many of which occurred on our own grounds, naturally, we recognized the pattern.

Panel 4
Professor X sees a child, looking panicked, down the hall, running away from him.

CAPTION: Anytime there was more than one mutant in the room, this happened. We could find no culprit, no evil conspiracy. It was a mutant illness. And it was always deadly.

Panel 5
Professor X watches sadly as the child runs in the opposite direction.

CAPTION: We were forced into isolation.

Panel 6
Professor X, frozen in the same spot, crestfallen, the hallway empty again.

CAPTION: There were exceptions. Any mutant with a healing factor, or those with fire-based powers.

Panel 7
Professor X wheeling his way outside.

CAPTION: The public’s response was predictable. Less predictable was the fear we encountered in the greater superhero community.

Panel 8
Professor X looking into the sky, where there is a chaotic, massive gathering of birds.

CAPTION: We found ourselves once more backed into a corner. Magneto threatened to lash out. The Avengers assembled. I told them I would handle it.

Panel 9
Professor X has put his hands in front of his face to shield himself from a blinding light, at the center of which we can glimpse Jean Grey.

CAPTION: I had a plan. And I was determined to end the “mutant problem” once and for all...

Marvel Girl: Like A Phoenix, page 12

PAGE TWELVE

Panel 1
Jenny waking up in her new bedroom. Currently still filled with Franklin’s “toys,” the kind of science projects you’d expect from the son of Reed Richards and Sue Storm.

CAPTION: I don’t envy her. Even if her circumstances have drastically improved.

Panel 2
Jenny looks around the room as if she still can’t believe this has happened.

CAPTION: She’s about to find out that even when the world finally gives her something, it’s still taking away from her, too.

Panel 3
Franklin, a few years younger than Jenny, is barging in happily with a breakfast tray. Jenny is surprised and astonished.

CAPTION: There’s so much she doesn’t know, and no one knows where to begin. Sue told her the basics. She knows who her father is, now. She thinks she knows everything. She doesn’t know the half of it.

Panel 4
Sue and Reed are standing at the door smiling proudly as Franklin sits on Jenny’s bed, watching her eat, a grateful expression on her face.

CAPTION: Yesterday she was alarmed at the possibility that she was a mutant. Today she’s not thinking about it at all. I don’t blame her. But she’s still in danger.

Panel 5
Sue and Reed have entered the room as Franklin and Jenny have started throwing toast at each other. Reed and Sue are still smiling.

CAPTION: I didn’t have the heart to tell Sue what I had in mind when I set this in motion. She alone among the Avengers trusted me, stood up for me when the whole world recoiled in horror, all over again, at the very thought of mutants.

Panel 6
Sue and Reed have joined Franklin and Jenny on the bed.

CAPTION: Because of the plague.

Marvel Girl: Like A Phoenix, page 11

PAGE ELEVEN

Panel 1
Magneto talking directly at the reader.

MAGNETO: My dear, do you know why mutants have engendered so much distrust?

Panel 2
Same as before.

MAGNETO: It’s because we refuse to play by their rules.

Panel 3
Same as before.

MAGNETO: And we don’t care what they say about us.

Panel 4
Same as before.

MAGNETO: So yes, I am going to attend that rally.

Panel 5
Same as before.

MAGNETO: They will hear exactly what I have to say.

Panel 6
Same as before.

MAGNETO: Anything that happens...

MAGNETO: Let’s just say I will respond in kind.

Panel 7
Magneto is holding his helmet in this panel.

MAGNETO: If you want to know more, you will simply have to be there yourself. Make it interesting. Bring along more of your X-Men.

Panel 8
Magneto is placing his helmet on.

MAGNETO: Now, if you would kindly go bother someone else in the meantime.

Panel 9
Black panel. Jean Grey’s telepathic conversation has been ended by Magneto’s helmet.

Marvel Girl: Like A Phoenix, page 10

PAGE TEN

Panel 1
Here’s another ten-year-old, Vex, a boy, in a wide shot climbing out his bedroom window on the second floor, with a bedsheet rope. Included in the panel is the house next door, and the tree that’s going to help him next panel. It is nighttime.

Panel 2
Here’s Vex climbing the tree.

Panel 3
Here’s Vex climbing into the window of his best friend’s room.

Panel 4
Here’s Vex in the room with his best friend Fish, another ten-year-old boy. Clearly happy to see each other.

Panel 5
Here’s Vex holding his finger to his mouth, shushing Fish. They’re both fighting giggles. Vex is using his mutant abilities.

Panel 6
Vex is nearly losing it. Fish is turning into a liquid state. That’s his mutant ability.

VOICE (O.P.): Honey? Have you seen my phone? I swear it was here a second ago!

Panel 7
Here’s Vex stepping out of the puddle Fish has become.

VOICE (O.P.): Also, I thought I was watching sports? This is not sports. I don’t know what this is. Soap operas don’t even play at night.

Panel 8
Here’s Vex and Fish using towels to clean up whatever water Fish may have left behind. They’re still laughing, although they’re not trying to hide it now.

Panel 9
Here’s Vex and Fish, spontaneously combusting, surprised looks on their faces.

Marvel Girl: Like A Phoenix, page 9

PAGE NINE

Panel 1
Jean Grey, using Cerebro, and Chamber, colored in shade to represent the fact that they’re being projected, are in the bedroom of an Indian girl, who’s also about ten, like Jenny earlier (it’ll be relevant later). This is Kali. Just to be clear, in projected form Jean is not wearing the Cerebro cap. Kali is lying down on her bed playing on her phone.

JEAN GREY: Kali.

JEAN GREY: Hello.

Panel 2
Kali is looking startled at Jean and Chamber.

KALI: Oh, wow!

Panel 3
Projected Jean is sitting herself down on Kali’s bed. Chamber stands aloof off to the side.

JEAN GREY: That’s my colleague, Chamber.

JEAN GREY: Kali, remember when I told you that I’d visit if things got out of hand?

JEAN GREY: I don’t want you worrying about this lockdown. That’s not why I’m here.

Panel 4
Kali is sitting up next to Projected Jean.

JEAN GREY: I told you that you were important, Kali.

JEAN GREY: There’s a lot of opposition to what I’m trying to do now. I just wanted to make sure you knew that.

JEAN GREY: But everything I told you before...

JEAN GREY: That’s what I’m here for now.

JEAN GREY: It’s time.

Panel 5
Close-up of Kali.

KALI: This is it, you mean, a certified, off-the-books X-Men adventure?

Panel 6
Close-up of Chamber.

CHAMBER: Don’t get too excited, kid.

CHAMBER: Just ‘cause you’re our get-out-of-jail-free card, doesn’t mean there isn’t risk involved.

CHAMBER: Believe me when I say, and Jean will back me up on this, the whole resurrection gig isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.

CHAMBER: Some of us will come back angry...

Marvel Girl: Like A Phoenix, page 8

PAGE EIGHT

Panel 1
Close-up of Chamber. Word bubble is ordinary white.

CHAMBER: Jean.

Panel 2
Close-up of Jean Grey, looking a little annoyed.

JEAN GREY: Voice changed a little, there, Chamber.

JEAN GREY: Or should I say, Charles.

Panel 3
Close-up of Chamber. White word bubbling remains.

CHAMBER: Jean, I need you to reconsider your current course of action.

CHAMBER: You need to decide what’s more important...

CHAMBER: What’s best for all mutants?

CHAMBER: What’s best for Jean?

Panel 4
Close-up of Jean.

JEAN GREY: I already did, Charles.

JEAN GREY: I think we already had this conversation, with Scott.

JEAN GREY: If I didn’t listen when it was Scott talking, what makes you think I would change my mind now?

JEAN GREY: But thanks for the vote of confidence.

Panel 5
Close-up of Chamber. White word bubbling continues.

CHAMBER: I had to try.

Panel 6
Close-up of Jean, placing the Cerebro cap on her head. Her face is a mask of grim determination. No dialogue.

Panel 7
Close-up of Chamber. Normal Chamber word bubbling resumes.

CHAMBER: Damn. I hate when he does that.

Panel 8
Close-up of Jean, her eyes closed, ready to plunge in.

JEAN GREY: Yeah.

JEAN GREY: That is not going to be the end of it.

Marvel Girl: Like A Phoenix, page 7

PAGE SEVEN

Panel 1
Jean Grey walking into the Cerebro room with Chamber.

CAPTION: Jenny’s settling in with Sue and the rest of her new family. Franklin, at least, seems to be having fun with the situation.

Panel 2
Jean has sat down and is holding the Cerebro cap. Chamber is standing off to the side. Please remember that Chamber has distinct word bubbles.

CHAMBER: Ironic.

CHAMBER: I’m the one mutant even other mutants can’t stand.

CHAMBER: And trust even less, now.

Panel 3
Close-up on Jean.

JEAN GREY: Jubilee always speaks highly of you.

Panel 4
Close-up of Chamber.

CHAMBER: Jubilee is cute.

CHAMBER: Insufferably naive, though.

Panel 5
Close-up of Jean.

JEAN GREY: Sometimes you don’t have the luxury of choosing your friends.

Panel 6
Close-up of Chamber.

CHAMBER: Fills me with confidence concerning your motives for choosing me as your new best friend.

Panel 7
Close-up of Jean.

JEAN GREY: It’s not like that and you know it.

Panel 8
Close-up of Chamber.

CHAMBER: Well, let’s just say, you’re gonna have to prove it.

Marvel Girl: Like A Phoenix, page 6

PAGE SIX

Panel 1
Outside Saint Maggie’s again as Jean Grey, Sue Storm, and Jenny are being loaded into a taxi. Jean is acknowledging the driver, who’s holding Jenny’s meager suitcase. The driver, a Latino male in his thirties, is holding the front passenger door open for Jean.

JEAN GREY: Thanks, Karma.

KARMA: My pleasure, ma’am.

Panel 2
Inside the taxi now as they’ve gotten on the road. Jean has turned around, addressing Jenny.

JEAN GREY: You’ve heard of the Terrigen Mists, Jenny?

JEAN GREY: A few years ago they were circling the globe. Caused a lot of problems.

JENNY: I guess?

Panel 3
Jean continues to address Jenny from the front seat. We see that Sue has taken Jenny’s hand, smiling to reassure her, although Jenny looks uncomfortable.

JEAN GREY: The mutant populations in particular felt threatened.

Panel 4
Close-up on Jenny, looking even more concerned.

JENNY: Are you saying I’m a mutant? Does that explain everything?

JENNY: Oh, god!

Panel 5
Sue is placing her other hand over Jenny’s.

SUE STORM: There’s nothing wrong with being a mutant, Jenny. Just another way to have powers. Just another thing someone can do.

SUE STORM: But, no, you are not a mutant.

Panel 6
Focus on Jean, still looking backwards, her expression compassionate.

JEAN GREY: Something has happened very much like the Mists, Jenny.

JEAN GREY: I’m sorry your life has been so difficult. It was about to get worse. That’s why we decided to make things right, Jenny.

JEAN GREY: You are no longer alone.

Marvel Girl: Like A Phoenix, page 5

PAGE FIVE

Panel 1
Jean Grey and Sue Storm have reached a room with the door cracked open. Jean is knocking on the frame.

JEAN GREY: Jenny?

Panel 2
Jean and Sue are walking into the room. We do not yet see Jenny.

JEAN GREY: Jenny? I’ve brought a friend. The one I was telling you about. Sue.

Panel 3
Jean and Sue are now fully in the room and standing at the foot of a bed, with a ten-year-old girl sitting on it, staring at them impassively. She’s got dirty blonde hair, closer to brown than blonde.

JEAN GREY: Sue is going to be your new guardian. Everything’s been arranged. You’re leaving this place today. Forever.

Panel 4
Sue is bending toward Jenny expectantly. Jenny has not changed her expression or moved.

SUE STORM: Jenny?

SUE STORM: We have a lot to talk about!

Panel 5
Sue is in the same position as before. Jenny is in the same position as before. No dialogue.

Panel 6
Sue remains as before, except now she’s smiling broadly. Jenny is pulling a teddy bear out by the leg from under the sheets. The teddy bear is orange. Jenny is speaking with a serious expression on her face.

JENNY: Mandarin is coming too, right?

Marvel Girl: Like A Phoenix, page 4

PAGE FOUR

Panel 1
Jean Grey and Sue Storm touch down at Saint Maggie’s Orphanage.

CAPTION: A large part of why this needed to happen was to fix a grievous error.

Panel 2
As Jean and Sue make their way through the foyer, excited children are reacting like they’re rock stars. Jean and Sue look amused.

CHILD #1: Invisible Girl! Invisible Girl!

CHILD #2: Marvel Girl! Marvel Girl!

Panel 3
Jean has stopped and is crouching down to spend a moment with the children. Now Sue, still standing, has a wry expression.

SUE STORM: “Invisible Girl.” Not awfully P.C.

JEAN GREY: They’re kids, Sue.

JEAN GREY: Actually, I kind of miss being called “Marvel Girl.”

Panel 4
Sue has suddenly realized she’s being a grump and is demonstrating her invisibility powers, holding up a disappearing hand as children around her cheer.

SUE STORM: It bothers me that Jenny isn’t down here with all of these kids.

Panel 5
Jean has made a surprised kid levitate as Sue continues to make parts of herself disappear.

JEAN GREY: It bothers me that you’re still focusing on what’s not happening rather than what is.

Panel 6
Jean is looking around trying to find Sue.

Panel 7
Jean sees Sue down a hall.

CAPTION: On the other hand, I couldn’t blame her impatience.