JohnnyChany

For all intents and purposes, she basically is.

Super super creative, Culwych. I'm going with Nordstrom. The best thing Esther has going for her is that she appears to be a young girl which isn't as useful against a blind man. She can use her voice and I guess he might have a soft spot for young girls given what happened with his daughter and the plot of the sequel which I never saw, but I still think he survives any initial attack and takes her down.

THE XAVIER INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT PART 6 TEAMS AND SET-UP Colossus and Strong Guy exchanged blows in the abandoned factory setting setup by the Danger Room. Strong Guy absorbed the kinetic energy from Colossus’s punches and smiled at his opponent as he punched him back and knocked him to the ground. He was then somewhat surprised to see Colossus was also still smiling. STRONG GUY: you keep hitting me although you know my mutant power. I don’t get it man. COLOSSUS: Just wanted to have some fun, comrade. STRONG GUY: If you don’t take this seriously, I’m going to beat you. Strong Guy loomed over Colossus. COLOSSUS: Da, I do take it seriously. If I wanted to I would use the strategy we have used against similar mutants like Sebastian Shaw from the Hellfire Club. But…. Colossus momentarily knocked back Guido with a rising double ax handle strike. COLOSSUS: I also know how strong I am. What I was able to do in fights against the likes of Juggernaut, Hulk, and Gladiator and… Colossus landed a body blow to Strong Guy’s side. COLOSSUS: I know there are limits to the amount of energy you can absorb and how quickly you need to discharge it. Instead of going for home run swings, Colossus peppered Strong Guy’s body with a combination of skilled strikes that started to overload the energy inside Guido. Soon, the more experienced X-Man could feel Strong Guy weakening and put him down hard with a powerful uppercut. When Strong Guy remained on the ground the Danger Room transformed back to its normal state. COMPUTER VOICE: The winner is Colossus. That is one point for the International X-Men team. In the viewing area for the Danger Room, Storm, Nightcrawler, Banshee, and Sunfire cheered. Havok, Polaris, Quicksilver, and Multiple Man clapped respectfully. The leader of X-Factor then walked over to Storm. He shook her hand. HAVOK: A good first fight. Good luck to you and your team the rest of the way. STORM: Good fortune to you as well, Alex. Both teams exited and waited to be called back for another round. The Danger Room was transformed later to a rocky seaside cliff for the first-round battle between Gambit and Archangel. Gambit displayed his amazing agility as he rolled and weaved to avoid the razor-sharp projections Archangel flung at him from the sky above. GAMBIT: You’re wasting your time up dere. You ain’t ever going to hit me and you are going to run out of shrapnel soon enough. ARCHANGEL: Not before you run out of energy and slip up, Remy. GAMBIT: I always have enough energy to keep all my cards on the table. A razor projectile cut through Gambit’s coat and snagged it to the ground. ARCHANGEL: It almost feels unfair fighting you from this vantage point. Best to end it quickly. Archangel dove toward Gambit fist first. GAMBIT: No worries mon ami… Gambit quickly bent down and flung a collection of rocks in the air charged with kinetic energy. The rocks exploded in Warren’s face, obscuring his vision. Gambit twirled out of his coat and propelled himself off a nearby boulder. He smashed his staff across the back of Archangel’s head. Warren crashed into the ground with a sickening thud. GAMBIT: Gambit has plenty of experience swatting birds out of the sky. Archangel quickly returned to his feet and was greeted by a barrage of kinetic cards being flicked with grace and speed by Gambit. He shielded himself with his metallic wings from the constant explosions. Gambit swiped at Archangel's feet with his staff and tripped up the original X-Man. Archangel swung his wing around like a sword to try and create some distance, but Remy jumped over the move and brought down his staff hard across the face of Warren, putting down the wealthy mutant. Gambit kinetically charged his staff and placed it under Warren’s chin. GAMBIT: Looks like this round goes to Gambit. The simulation around them ended. COMPUTER VOICE: The winner is Gambit. That is one point for X-Men Blue. From the viewing room, Wolverine, Psylocke, Rogue, and Jubilee cheered on their teammate. Inside the Danger Room, Gambit helped Warren back up. GAMBIT: You’re buying me a new coat, mon ami. Once they had left the Danger Room, Cyclops did his best to keep the motivation high for his teammate. CYCLOPS: Good effort, Warren. Just need to shake it off. There is plenty of tournament left for us to move up the standings. Cyclops, Archangel, and the other members of the original five, Beast, Iceman, and Jean Grey left the Danger Room and waited for the rest of the first round to complete. A little while later they were summoned back to the Danger Room by Magneto himself. Upon arrival they got a good luck at their next opposing team, X-Factor led by the brother of Cyclops, Havok. The two teams greeted each other warmly. After exchanging pleasantries, Cyclops got down to business. CYCLOPS: Let me guess, it’s going to be me and Alex going at it again. MAGNETO: Not this time, Scott. The representative for your team for this round against X-Factor will be Jean Grey. Jean Grey stepped up confidently. MAGNETO: And her opponent will be the Mistress of Magnetism, Lorna. POLARIS: I’m ready to go. MAGNETO: A match pitting my daughter who inherited my abilities against Charles’s first and lets be honest, favorite student, who also happens to have many of his abilities. How could we not do this pairing? JEAN GREY: I get it. MAGNETO: Although I must add one more thing. I have granted Lorna a very special helmet to protect against any telepathy. That is not the kind of battle either Charles or I want. JEAN GREY: So, you just want us to use our powers to create force fields and then throw things at one another? MAGNETO: If you want to describe it in the most crude and reductive way possible, then yes. Jean, you know as well as anyone that you can’t always rely on your telepathy to get you out of a jam. Sometimes you only have your wits and your telekinesis to fall back on when there is chaos around you. Same holds true for Lorna and her abilities. POLARIS: This could get dangerous. MAGNETO: I don’t want either of you to hold back. Both of your teams lost in the first round and could really use a win. If safety is your concern, let me put your minds at ease. We have a lifeguard on duty. On cue, Heather Cameron, the gold skinned mutant Lifeguard, stepped into the room. LIFEGUARD: I’m here if needed. JEAN GREY: Alright then let’s do this. Both women stepped into the Danger Room which quickly transformed into a steel mill. JEAN GREY: This could definitely get dangerous.

Thanks, glad you are liking it thus far. I have all the matches for this first part already mapped out but if both Kurt and Pietro emerge victorious, I agree that could be fun.

Panels from the confrontation referenced in the set-up..... .

THE XAVIER INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT PART 5 TEAMS AND SET-UP Emma Frost gathered her former students M, Husk, Chamber, and Hollow in one of the classrooms of the Xavier Institute. HUSK: Have I mentioned lately that I think our classrooms in Massachusetts were much better than these ones. EMMA FROST: Undoubtedly. HUSK: I’m happy that we were put together on a team. EMMA FROST: This tournament will give us a phenomenal opportunity to show what we built with this class M: Easily the top mutant class in X-Men history and after this, everyone else will know it. EMMA FROST: We mustn't be too cocky, but I agree with your sentiment. Emma Frost walked over to the predictably silent and mysterious mutant, Hollow. EMMA FROST: I find it fascinating that Xavier would pick Hollow out of all of your other Generation X classmates to be on this team. I wonder what he has in store HUSK: Yeah, I would have figured Synch or Skin or Jubilee. Although she wound up on some other team. I hope one of us gets to face her. Hollow remained silent. M: Obviously everyone recognizes the importance of the St. Croix family. ?: If I may… Longtime X-Men ally and former Professor Xavier paramore, Moira MacTaggert entered the classroom. EMMA FROST: Of course you would be here. MOIRA: It is time for the last match of the first round, and it involves you and your team, Miss Frost. Emma and Generation X followed Moira outside the mansion. Emma chuckled at the sight of the opposing group. It was the Excalibur team composed of Captain Britain, Rachel Summers, Cerise, Meggan, and Kylun. EMMA FROST: Britain’s premier superhero team, huh? I suppose that tracks as a good first appetizer to see how far my students have come. MOIRA: None of them are going first, you are Emma. EMMA FROST: Me? MOIRA: What better way than for you to go first to set an example for your team? EMMA FROST: Don’t try to play mind games with me MacTaggert. CAPTAIN BRITAIN: You think you are somehow above us? EMMA FROST: No, not at all. I just imagined I would have been paired off against Jean, or maybe even your sister, Betsy. If I am to square off against one of you that would only mean it’s.. Rachel Summers stepped in between Captain Britain and Emma. RACHEL SUMMERS: Doesn’t take a psychic to figure it out. EMMA FROST: Rachel, darling, you and I, one on one? Intriguing. RACHEL SUMMERS: I seem to remember another time of us being in friendly competition and me putting you on your behind by striking you out. EMMA FROST: This is no baseball game, and don’t forget, Rachel, we’ve done this dance before. RACHEL SUMMERS: That was different… EMMA FROST: True enough, that was really more of a misdirected temper tantrum at me over your anger over your mom. RACHEL SUMMERS: and I’m different. You’re not going to get a rise out of me from one of your cutting comments. I’m older, wiser, and more skilled, partially thanks to you. I won’t be sidetracked by emotion. EMMA FROST: Glad to hear it. We shall test how true that statement really is. MOIRA: Let the battles begin.

Great fight, RakaiThwei. Looking at his list of opponents so far in this arc, I don't think Michaelangelo has come across anyone who fights quite like Guile yet, Mr. Defensive Zoner himself. I see the fight starting like most Guile fights start. Guile spams Sonic Booms, Michaelangelo tries to jump over them and immediately eats a Flash Kick or two. He then decides to tech roll under them and gets grabbed for a German Supplex. What he does at that point is what determines if he can win or not. I'm not sure yet who I'm going to go with, want to give it one more day to see if anyone has some compelling arguments either way.

Koba tears apart Henry.

There definitely seemed to be a disconnect between what he has legendarily done and what he seemingly could do even with the hook. Still he did battle large monsters for a long time so he could concievably do this.

THE XAVIER INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT PART 4 TEAMS AND SET-UP Kitty Pryde, Forge, Longshot, Dazzler and Bishop met together on the basketball courts of the Xavier Institute of Higher Learning. SHADOWCAT: I must admit this isn’t the team I would have thought I would have been on if you had asked me. DAZZLER: Are you saying you don’t want to be teammates? SHADOWCAT: No, not at all. I’m just saying we feel less connected than most of the other teams. You and Longshot together I would understand but all of us together… LONGSHOT: Feels thrown together? SHADOWCAT: I wouldn’t go that far. I just would have expected Forge to be on the X-Force team or the X-Factor team. Heck, I was a founding member of Excalibur so I would have assumed that I would be on that team or another X-Men team with Piotr and Kurt. Forge smiled. FORGE: Kitty, are you forgetting that we were all together when we first became X-Men? SHADOWCAT: No, but that was a long time ago. And I don’t recall Bishop being around yet. BISHOP: I definitely wasn’t. FORGE: It is possible that it is a wider net than I am thinking that binds us all together. SHADOWCAT: That’s kinda my point. FORGE: Whatever the reason may be could soon be revealed to us. BISHOP: I don’t care why we were all picked for the same team, I still aim to win. SHADOWCAT: Oh, absolutely, don’t get me wrong, we are winning this thing. ?: Then you better hope that lucky charm mutant you are with has enough to go around. The group of five were startled when they were suddenly joined by the black and white skinned mutant mercenary, Domino. Forge was happy to see his former teammate. FORGE: Domino, I didn’t know you were here. It is always good to see you. Domino stepped toward Longshot. DOMINO: Well I wasn’t formally invited to be on the X-Force team, which is a shame, because I would have loved to go one on one with this guy and see whose luck would run out first. But Xavier must have known I would have found out that Cable and my former teammates were all here so that I would show up anyway. He reached out to me to help put this thing together. DAZZLER: Just how many mutants are here right now? DOMINO: A lot. Now follow me. Forge, Shadowcat, Longshot, Bishop, and Dazzler followed Domino to the Danger Room. DOMINO: I asked specifically to be involved in this matchup because I didn’t want you guys to have an unfair advantage with Longshot here giving you luck. I wanted to be around to counteract it. FORGE: I don’t know if Longshot’s powers can assist other people in that way. LONGSHOT: If anything, I have been guilty of siphoning other people’s luck away in a nearby radius but if I’m not actively doing anything that shouldn’t be the case. FORGE: And don’t you have to be actively doing something yourself for your powers to activate, Domino? DOMINO: Regardless I wanted to be here to offer support in any way I could and you’ll soon see why. The group reached the entrance of the Danger Room. Waiting for them was the X-Force team of Cable, Feral, Shatterstar, Rictor, and Warpath FORGE: My friends, it is great to see you all. How strange that members of our teams would be the first to fight. DOMINO: Not just any members, Forge, it’s you…. versus Cable. FORGE: What? Why would the leader of X-Force go first and why would I be picked to go against him? Cable cocked his pulse rifle. CABLE: We both love our armaments, don’t we? And there is no need to be modest here Forge? I know you have developed weapons with that brilliant inventing mind of yours to take me out if the need ever arises. Forge smiled sheepishly. FORGE: One must always be prepared. DOMINO: Another reason why I wanted to be here for this fight. I would pick Cable against anyone in this room, the only one that would give me pause is you. BISHOP: I take some offense to that. LONGSHOT: Same here. CABLE: Bishop, I initially thought it was going to be you. A battle of the future boys, but I’m not disappointed that it’s Forge. Cable looked back at Forge with a yellow spark in his eye. CABLE: Are you ready? FORGE: Give me a moment to make sure I have the proper equipment and I will be ready to go. CABLE: Take all the time you need. I want a good challenge. Bishop quietly leaned next to Forge. BISHOP: I hope you aren’t planning to go easy on him because you were a part of that team for so long. FORGE: Never. Going easy on Cable would automatically result in failure and it is as you and Kitty said, we are winning this thing.

THE XAVIER INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT PART 3 TEAMS AND SET-UP The Alpha Flight team of Guardian, Sasquatch, Northstar, Snowbird, and Shaman mingled around the Blackbird hangar waiting for their names to be called in Xavier and Magneto’s impromptu tournament. The team of Canadian superheroes were both annoyed and excited by their invitation. GUARDIAN: I had thought there might be some emergency for Xavier to call out to us like this. To think it would just be an offer for competitive sparring. Part of me feels like we should just reject this and go home on principle. NORTHSTAR: I am fairly enthusiastic about the whole situation. I feel like we can really show off what we can do to these other groups. Although, it does feel strange being here without my sister. SNOWBIRD: I too miss Aurora’s presence. SASQUATCH: I imagine Puck will feel pretty salty about not being invited as well. GUARDIAN: Why this specific group of five of us was chosen may soon become apparent. In the meantime, I will try to follow in Northstar’s enthusiasm in representing the best that Canada has to offer in this event. A 7-foot-tall muscular woman with metallic golden skin and golden hair approached the group with a smile on her face. LIFEGUARD: Welcome Alpha Flight. My name is Heather Cameron, but you may also call me Lifeguard. I am working with Professor Xavier for this tournament and have been instructed to bring you to the Danger Room. Your first teammate is scheduled for action next. Shaman greeted Heather with some familiarity that Snowbird took notice of. She and the other members of Alpha Flight followed them to the Danger Room. Sasquatch was particularly curious about Lifeguard’s physique. SASQUATCH: Is your mutation similar to that of Colossus’s. LIFEGUARD: Not really. My body has reactive metamorphosis. It will morph and change to best help anyone in danger. SASQUATCH: Meaning? LIFEGUARD: If I have to grow wings to fly someone to safety, my body will grow wings. My skin also makes me invulnerable to many dangers as well. SASQUATCH: Fascinating. LIFEGUARD: It’s one of the main reasons the Professor asked me to help. He liked the idea of having someone nearby to step in and save someone should the need arise. You know, if things get too rough. Which I must say is more of a concern with some participants more than others. Alpha Flight arrived at the entrance of the Danger Room and saw the first group that one of their members would square off against, the New Mutants. The team consisted of Cannonball, Sunspot, Magik, Magma, and Dani Moonstar. Yet, there was someone else there that caught Alpha Flight by even more surprise. GUARDIAN: Heather? Standing on the opposite end of the new mutants was Guardian’s wife, Heather Hudson, in her Vindicator costume. VINDICATOR: Hey everyone. GUARDIAN: What’s going on? LIFEGUARD: A little surprise addition. You see, originally the Professor and Magneto had Shaman scheduled to participate in this first fight, but once I read up on his abilities I pleaded with Xavier to let me ask him to join me in helping any potentially injured combatants. His pocket dimension medicine bag would be so useful and so I reached out to him. Shaman smiled at Lifeguard. LIFEGUARD: Magneto agreed on the condition I find an even better replacement. Which is when my former teammate, Sage, stepped in and we were able to find the perfect replacement. We flew this Heather out here on short notice after she graciously agreed. VINDICATOR: I can’t wait. GUARDIAN: What makes you the perfect replacement? A green hologram of Magneto appeared above them. MAGNETO: She is to face Magik, Illyana Rasputin. Illyana versus Shaman would have been a battle of Shaman’s earthly sorcery against Illyana’s Limbo magic. However, Vindicator with her suit brings in a fascinating science versus magic dynamic. Also, to add further intrigue into the fight, Vindicator was given her mystical sword, Scell, from her Nemesis incarnation, granting her the ability to teleport and superhuman durability on top of the abilities given to her by the suit. How her mystical sword will fare against Illyana’s Soul Sword is something I can’t wait to see. Magik smirked. MAGIK: My curiosity is piqued. CANNONBALL: Illyana, just remember when you are in there that at the end of the day we are all still on the same side. MAGIK: You don’t have to worry about me, I know I’m not going against some interdimensional demon just some government hero from Canada. VINDICATOR: Charming. MAGNETO: Magik, Vindicator, step forward, and may the better warrior win.

THE XAVIER INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT PART 2 TEAMS AND SET-UP The original X-Men team of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Beast, and Archangel gathered together near the fountain in front of the Xavier Institute. JEAN GREY: It’s been awhile since we’ve teamed, just the five of us. BEAST: If it is to be a series of one on one encounters, it is more of a grouping then a team. CYCLOPS: At this stage that is true, but I have a feeling there will be more to it after that. I’m here to win, I hope you all feel the same. ICEMAN: I just want to know who I’m facing. The fivesome was then joined by Xavier’s former Hellfire Club spy, the brilliant and calculating Sage. SAGE: I may be able to help with that, Bobby. ICEMAN: When did you get here? I don’t remember seeing you during the lineups. SAGE: I was enlisted, along with a few of the others, by Xavier and Magneto to help put together this thing. JEAN GREY: Who better to help organize this many mutants. SAGE: That was their pitch. I was also able to come up with most of the matches between each team. Wanted to make sure that each one had a unique connection. Speaking of which, it is your team’s turn. Follow me. The group followed Sage to the Danger Room entrance where another team, X-Men Blue, were already waiting. Cyclops smirked at the sight of Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue, Psylocke, and Jubilee. CYCLOPS: I was hoping this is where we’d start. This one or Storm’s unit. It’s a shame that this isn’t team versus team, it would be a bit of a challenge, but I’d like our odds. Wolverine unsheathed his claws. WOLVERINE: I was thinking the same thing. SAGE: Just a reminder it’s just going to be one member from each team in this fight. All the rest of you will square off with members of other teams. WOLVERINE: So what’s it going to be, me and Summers? I can go for that. SAGE: That matchup was considered, but no your opponent is not going to be Scott. WOLVERINE: Oh no, it’s me and Jean, isn’t it? SAGE: No, Logan, this grouping isn’t about you. Psylocke stepped forward. PSYLOCKE: Then it must be me versus Jean, a battle of telepaths. SAGE: Also incorrect, Betsy. Neither you nor Jean is competing in this fight. JUBILEE: That rules out Psylocke versus Archangel in a former lover’s quarrel. Then who is it? There is history here between all of us X-Men but I can’t think of any other obvious connections. SAGE: The two fighting in this round will be Archangel and Gambit. WOLVERINE: What? What connection is there between the rich boy and the cajun? Rogue’s eyes widened with realization, and she was angered. ROGUE: Ah know what it is, and I already don’t like this if these are the kind of connections we are going for. JUBILEE: I don’t follow. JEAN GREY: It’s their shared history as the horseman of death for Apocalypse. SAGE: That is right. I will say this is one of few pairings that I had nothing to do with. This choice was all Magneto’s. BEAST: Perhaps Magneto’s thought process was that this indirect reminder of their traumas would bring out the best in them while also confronting their inner demons. ROGUE: I still don’t like it. GAMBIT: No need to fret, chere. Gambit remains as cool as a cucumber. Reminders of my troubled past are nothing new. ARCHANGEL: Agreed. I’m actually looking forward to this one on one. GAMBIT: No complaints here. Just be mindful with your razor-sharp steel shards, mon ami. Or Gambit may forget he is in a friendly skirmish and respond accordingly. ARCHANGEL: I’m just going to go for the win, nothing more. SAGE: Warren Worthington, Remy Lebeau, step forward, your time in the danger room has come. Archangel and Gambit stepped forward into the Danger Room which immediately transformed into a rocky seaside cliff.

Cool matchup. Happy to see Lori Quaid in a setup, what a character. Have yet to see Dial of Destiny.

In one of the largest gatherings of mutants in the school’s history, 50 heroes connected to various teams related to the X-Men gathered at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. Archangel, Banshee, Beast, Bishop, Cable, Cannonball, Captain Britain, Cerise, Chamber, Colossus, Cyclops, Dani Moonstar, Dazzler, Emma Frost, Feral, Forge, Gambit, Guardian, Havok, Hollow, Husk, Iceman, Jean Grey, Jubilee, Kylun, Longshot, M, Magma, Magik, Meggan, Multiple Man, Nightcrawler, Northstar, Polaris, Psylocke, Rachel Summers, Rictor, Rogue, Quicksilver, Sasquatch, Shadowcat, Shaman, Shatterstar, Snowbird, Storm, Strong Guy, Sunfire, Sunspot, Warpath, and Wolverine all came together upon the lawn in front of the X-Mansion. WOLVERINE: What the hell is going on? Why were all summoned here? NIGHTCRAWLER: While it is always nice to see so many familiar faces, I must agree mein friend. The call for us to come here was a bit vague for so many of us to be brought in one place. STORM: I trust the professor has a good reason. EMMA FROST: He better. BISHOP: Maybe it’s the formation of a new mutant colony? A giant green hologram of Professor Xavier appeared above the collected group. XAVIER: Not quite, but I am well pleased to see that you all made the effort to be here. CYCLOPS: Why are we here? A large hologram of Magneto appeared next to Professor Xavier. MAGNETO: To train, but to also have fun. It is no secret that the threats we face are never ending and always escalating… XAVIER: But that doesn’t mean we can't have fun while we hone our abilities. MAGNETO: To wit, Charles and I have devised a tournament so that you may push yourselves to your limit while enjoying some competition. XAVIER: All of you will be divided into 10 teams of 5. The first thing you will notice is that you have a shared history with your four teammates. All 10 teams were carefully chosen and crafted. MAGNETO: Each member of your team will have a one on one skirmish with a member of a different team in the Danger Room. Whomever emerges victorious will earn a point for their team. No team will have more than one matchup against the same team. Every team will be vying for the most points. STRONG GUY: What does the team with the most points win? MAGNETO: You shall see, but trust me it will be worth it. JUBILEE: I think I’m still a little hazy on how this works and what we are doing. XAVIER: Patience, my child, all will be made clear once the tournament begins and you see for yourself. Before that though, we must announce the teams. MAGNETO: I will let you lead off Charles. XAVIER: The first team will be composed of my original students, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Beast, and Archangel. MULTIPLE MAN: Heh, who didn’t see that coming? MAGNETO: The second team will be the second batch of X-Men to join Charles from all over the world and make a GIANT impact. This team is Storm, Nightcrawler, Banshee, Colossus, and Sunfire. WOLVERINE: I think you are forgetting someone, bub. COLOSSUS: Da, and Yoshida was not with us for very long. XAVIER: We have not forgotten you, Logan. We have another team in mind for you. But first the next team, the Uncanny X-Men, we will have Bishop, Forge, Kitty, Dazzler, and Longshot. MAGNETO: Now we get to you, Wolverine. You will be on the X-Men Blue team with your former X-Men Blue teammates, Rogue, Gambit, Psylocke, and Jubilee. Ah, the memories of our battles against one another. JUBILEE: Yes!! My team is awesome! XAVIER: The New Mutants team will be headed up by Cannonball and Dani Moonstar. It will also include Sunspot, Magik, and Magma. MAGNETO: Emma Frost will form a team with her former Generation X students, Chamber, Husk, M, and Hollow. XAVIER: Captain Britain, you will lead the Excalibur team with four of your first members, your wife, Meggan, Rachel Summers, Cerise, and Kylun. MAGNETO: Cable, Shatterstar, Feral, Rictor, and Warpath will comprise the X-Force team. XAVIER: Havok, you shall be partnered with your original X-Factor teammates, Polaris, Quicksilver, Multiple Man, and Strong Guy. MAGNETO: Last, but not least, the most obvious team, made up from Canada’s best mutants and heroes, Guardian, Sasquatch, Snowbird, Northstar, and Shaman of Alpha Flight. XAVIER: You may take a moment to reconnect with your teammates before we begin. MAGNETO: Time is of the essence, though, so as soon as you are ready, we would like Storm’s team and X-Factor to make their way to the Danger Room, so that we can begin with our first match. The two holograms disappeared. Chatter rose up from the large assortment of heroes as they shifted around into their teams. The talk was a mix of excitement and confusion, and some even wondered aloud if mutant mind powers may be involved in getting everyone to agree to this so quickly. Still, there was a thick air of anticipation in the air. The Giant-Sized X-Men team and the X-Factor team made their way to the Danger Room while eyeing one another. The hologram of Professor Xavier reappeared. XAVIER: We thought we should start with a rather obvious matchup. You will soon realize that all the pairings we have picked will have some sort of connection and this is one is no different. Guido Carosella, Piotr Rasputin, please step forward. Strong Guy and Colossus separated themselves from their teams and stood next to one another. STRONG GUY: Time to find out who is really the strongest, huh? Alright I’m down. COLOSSUS: Da, good luck to you, Guido. Let us have our fight start off this tournament right. Both men stepped into the danger room which quickly transformed into an abandoned factory. MAGNETO: Begin.