Beyond Evolution

Episode Thirty Two - Stuff of Heroes

Aired: September 21, 2002

Stars: Cyclops, Rogue

Appears: Wolverine, Shadowcat, Iceman, Jean, Nightcrawler, Storm, Beast, Spyke, Xavier

Cameos: Magneto, Quicksilver, Gambit, Colossus, BoomBoom, Jubilee, Wolfsbane, Magma, Cannonball, Multiple, Berzerker

Guests: Juggernaut, Trask

First Appearance(s) of: None

Written by: Bob Forward

Summary

Troops are swarming over the remains of the Institute. Reporters are present and on the news there is general anti-mutant propaganda. Rogue and Wolverine are shopping in a convenience store for food. More troops come into the store and recognize Rogue. They get into a fight and Wolverine and Rogue end up getting away on Wolvie's motorcycle, but the troops are right on their tail.

A congressional hearing on the "Mutant menace" is being held and Storm and Beast show up to speak on behalf of the mutants. Elsewhere Juggernaut is "chased" off of a train by a security guard. Juggernaut tells him that he doesn't want to do it, but the guard doesn't listen, so he wrecks the train and marches off.

The rest of the X-kids are hiding out in a cave. Nightcrawler, Kitty, and Iceman rig up a tiny handheld TV so that everyone can watch the hearings. Rogue and Wolverine come flying into the cave with the military right behind them. Wolverine wants to fight, but Cyke stops him. He has Iceman ice up the cave entrance as they argue about what to do. Wolverine says that the military is now the enemy, they have to fight. Cyke says that they're not really, and that the X-Men are supposed to be heroes. Wolverine finally says that if Cyke wants to take charge, then they're on their own and he takes off. The X-Kids disable the choppers without hurting anyone and take off in the X-Jet.

Elsewhere again, a News van is following the police cars as they chase after Juggernaut. They come across a pile of wrecked cars and watch as Juggernaut heads for this huge dam. Back at the hearing, news coverage of Juggernauts rampage is brought on. Juggernaut is shown wrecking a tank and the speaker says that the mutants are all monsters. Storm and Beast argue that they're all not that way.

The kids pick up coverage of the hearings on the jet and find out that Juggernaut is on the loose. Jean and Scott argue over whether or not they should get involved and Jean asks Scott what Xavier would want them to do. Meanwhile Juggernaut continues the destruction, taking out parts of the dam and military choppers.

The X-Men finally arrive at the dam and go head to head with Juggernaut. Spyke topples a huge generator while Juggernaut is on top and as he slides down the dam, Kit jumps on top of him and phases him into the dam and leaves him partially trapped. Jean and Iceman temporarily fix the hole that Juggernaut put in the dam while Kurt ports in and out releasing the locks on Juggernaut's helmet.

Juggernaut finally busts his way out of the dam wall. Cyke blasts him full force with his beams and knocks the helmet off of his head. When Juggernaut keeps coming, Cyke blasts him full force without his visor. Cyke continues to pour it on, but Juggernaut keeps coming. He finally makes it to Cyke and grabs him by the head, blocking his eyes and cutting off the beam. As Juggernaut pulls back his fist getting ready to smash Cyke's head, the X-boys rush him and try to help. Juggernaut swats them all off. Kitty and Rogue phase up behind him and Kit boosts Rogue up onto his shoulders.

Juggernaut looses hold of Cyclops and Kurt ports him to safety as Rogue continues to absorb his powers. Finally the two of them collapse. Juggernaut rises to his feet first and goes after the unconscious Rogue. Rogue gets up before he can reach her, and as he swings at her full force she bats his fist away. They go head to head, but Juggernaut can't touch Rogue. She lifts him up over her head and throws him from the top of the dam. In mid flight, Iceman freezes him into a huge block of Ice. Then they lose track of him.

Back at the hearings (where they've witnessed the whole X-Men vs Juggernaut fight) the speaker is shocked and asks "What did they do?". Storm tells them that they've done what they were trained to do, to use their powers for good.

On the dam, Rogue collapses. As Jean and Scott rush to help her she tells them that she just absorbed a huge part of Juggernaut's mind. She now knows where the Professor is. The X-Men find Xavier locked up in Juggernaut's holding tank (in stasis). Wolverine shows up and tells Cyke that he did a good job.

Later, the President gives a speech saying that the X-Men have been cleared of all charges and that the real villain behind the Sentinel fiasco, Trask, has been jailed. He says that everyone should be more open minded about mutants and that from now on they should be free of any prosecution. Magneto and his crew are shown watching the speech on the telly.

Summary written by Denaill for her site -

Quotes

Kurt: (As Kitty phases through him) Do you mind? You're invading my personal space!

Wolverine: Listen kid!
Cyclops: No, we're the X-Men. We're not kids anymore. You trained us, and you know something, we're good. Very good.

Juggernaut What are you trying to do? Embarass me to death? Come on, give me your best shot!
Cyclops: You know, that's just what I had in mind.
Juggernaut: You think that fancy visor is going to stop me? Nothing stops me! I'm raw power!
Cyclops: Yeah? You want it raw tough guy? Then take it raw!

Quick Review

Grade: 9

Loved this episode. Got kind of tired of the whole WWXD? or What would Xavier do? routine. Really loved the X-Kids vs Juggernaut scenes. Kitty phasing him into the dam and leaving him there, and Rogue just generally kicking his a**. I'm also really grateful that they didn't draw out the missing Xavier plot.

Major thing I didn't like is that they had Wolverine abandon all of the X-kids just because he disagreed with Cyclops, for someone that has gotten really close and protective over at least a few of the kids it just didn't seem in character for him.