1. Previously on X-Men...
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2. To reiterate
for those just returning to us.
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3. Regardless of your stance
on recent world events...
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4. Oh, my.
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5. the images you are about to see
may be disturbing.
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6. I draw its fire
away from the gardens.
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7. Save as many as you can.
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8. We shall not live our days wondering
if we could've saved more.
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9. The name's Gambit, mon ami.
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10. Remember it.
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11. Sugar. I can't feel you.
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12. Get out of my home, you damn demon!
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13. Is this death?
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14. Shi'ar fools, surren—
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15. Don't move! Stay where you are!
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16. Hands up!
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17. Surrender?
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18. No, just perish.
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19. Stand, Kree.
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20. This pigeon shall not thwart the will
of the Supreme Intelligence.
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21. Victory for the Imperial Guard!
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22. A Pyrrhic victory.
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23. The Kree do not...
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24. Be honored to fall at my feet, Ronan,
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25. for you shall be memorialized
as the corpse upon which I posed.
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26. A true Kree bows to no one.
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27. Thank you, Gladiator.
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28. Ronan dear,
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29. tell me where
the Supreme Intelligence has fled,
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30. or your forces shall suffer.
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31. Save them, Ronan.
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32. All you need to do is...
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33. A million pardons, your Highness.
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34. - You dare interrupt my glorious moment?
- Oh.
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35. It's your sister, The Empress.
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36. Oh, joy.
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37. Why didn't you say so?
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38. My dearest sister
is always of utmost priority.
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39. Greetings, Shi'ar.
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40. One year ago, we offered the skills
of our mighty healers
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41. to a Terran man on the verge of death.
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42. No ordinary Terran,
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43. this man helped spare the entire universe
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44. from the madness of my brother, D'ken,
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45. as well as the galactic hunger
of the Phoenix.
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46. And now, in his greatest feat yet,
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47. this man has unlocked
the secrets to my heart.
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48. Hmm.
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49. So I, Empress Lilandra,
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50. stand before this High Council,
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51. and before you, my loyal people,
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52. with joyous news in times of war,
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53. for your Empress is to be married,
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54. and our empire
shall welcome a new emperor.
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55. Professor Charles Xavier.
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56. To the might and glory of the Imperium.
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57. Hmm.
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58. I pray our act of performative jingoism
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59. erased any concerns over my heritage?
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60. Do not fret.
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61. My subjects trust me when I say
you are no mere Terran, Charles.
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62. Well, on Earth, newlyweds whisk off
to some faraway island
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63. to celebrate their love.
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64. And how far
would my hopeless romantic see us go?
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65. Dare I assume
a sandy beach on Earth itself?
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66. Perhaps an empress
could even spend a portion of her time
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67. ruling the galaxy
from my little corner of it?
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68. My handsome emperor has much to learn,
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69. about masking his manipulations.
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70. You wish to return
to your children, don't you?
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71. Merely visit.
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72. See their faces.
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73. Yet families often mimic black holes.
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74. Visit and risk being stuck
in its ever-spiraling vacuum of dramas.
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75. This is especially true
with your students.
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76. Mmm, didn't your brother
nearly destroy the universe
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77. with the M'kraan Crystal?
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78. You should message them.
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79. Use a holo-globe.
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80. Invite them to the wedding.
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81. Unless you fear
they'll think you've abandoned them.
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82. You've earned a life of your own, Charles.
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83. And I need you.
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84. Once we crush the Kree,
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85. an educator such as you
can teach them our ways.
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86. Do as you did on Earth.
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87. Play the role of the peacemaker.
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88. Wasn't aware my X-Men
and I were playing make-believe.
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89. Much like my legs
in this armor's exoskeleton.
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90. All ruling is make-believe.
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91. I pretend to be perfect,
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92. as my subjects would never love the woman
beneath the armor.
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93. Not like you do.
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94. Never pretend with me.
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95. Will you at least consider Earth?
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96. I will.
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97. But I remind you, Charles,
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98. the virtue of a teacher lies
in showing their students
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99. how to walk on their own.
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100. True.
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101. But only if he is sure
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102. there are no more lessons
he can teach them.
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103. You must drink.
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104. Why bother?
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105. He's a liar.
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106. Traitor.
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107. Cost you everything.
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108. He was trying to help me.
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109. A tawdry romance of guilt and shame.
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110. How many have suffered his gifts?
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111. How many made slaves?
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112. Your bite is
a sort of demonic infection.
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113. Once the venom reaches his heart...
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114. Leave him.
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115. Don't play martyr.
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116. You will not break me.
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117. But I can fix you.
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118. Forge made his bed.
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119. Let him die in it.
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120. All lives deserve saving.
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121. Even his.
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122. You go for help,
but there is no pill for my poison.
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123. Let him die.
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124. Look the other way. Watch.
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125. Get used to it.
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126. You're not an X-Man anymore.
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127. Well, where did that get you?
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128. Kissing the hand that beats you?
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129. I do not fear death.
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130. I know. That's why you rush to play dead.
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131. You fear living.
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132. As you said to Jean,
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133. "I have wondered
what it would be like to be human."
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134. It is a tempting daydream.
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135. I... I was so tired.
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136. Is that why you fear your power,
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137. sought refuge with this monotone family?
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138. Enough! Let me out!
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139. Let me out!
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140. Look at your family.
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141. Who you follow.
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142. I was wrong.
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143. Forge didn't rob your gifts.
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144. - You had already renounced them.
- No! Please!
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145. I cannot breathe.
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146. Sham!
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147. You turned your back
on these paths long ago.
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148. Lord of chaos!
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149. Weaver of lies,
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150. I tear your thread and break your loom.
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151. Depart to the desert, demon.
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152. Depart, and be gone.
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153. Mom practiced desert magic.
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154. Some of it sunk in,
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155. despite my best efforts.
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156. Careful. Your shoulder.
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157. Well, give it to me straight.
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158. You need a better bedside face, Doc.
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159. Its bite is magical.
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160. Perhaps your mother's book
holds an answer.
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161. She wrote about a cacti,
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162. the midnight cholla.
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163. Grows in nearby caves.
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164. Doesn't need sunlight.
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165. Its aloe is powerful magic medicine.
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166. I can show you the way.
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167. You are too weak. Tell me where to go.
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168. I don't have much time, Ororo.
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169. If this nastiness gets worse
while you're gone,
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170. I don't wanna be alone.
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171. Then we ride together, my love.
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172. The Empress, Lilandra Neramani,
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173. and her Royal Consort.
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174. Your man speaks as if I am your pet.
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175. Hmm. Not an entirely displeasing thought.
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176. Hush now, beloved. You may bark later.
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177. Your Majesty,
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178. I have known you
since you were but a hatchling
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179. and wish only for your happiness.
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180. But given our war with the Kree,
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181. and how it's divided even we Shi'ar,
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182. is a royal wedding...
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183. Gladiator and his Guard
fill my ears with news of coming victory.
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184. Yes, but we have been trapped
in so much change,
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185. some yearn for the stable comfort
of what is familiar for sameness.
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186. Araki sugars his words, my sister.
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187. Your consort was born
on the wrong side of the stars.
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188. He is Terran.
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189. Gentle sister, heed my throne.
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190. A throne that is bound
to more than the whims of your heart.
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191. A union with the Terran
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192. would bind the Shi'ar into alliance
with his inferior home world.
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193. I respect you speaking
the quiet part out loud, Deathbird,
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194. so let's speak plainly.
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195. Your Empress and I decide alliances
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196. as well as which world we call home.
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197. Chandilar is home.
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198. Our throne world.
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199. - Of course, Lord Chancellor.
- I merely meant...
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200. Spoke the quiet part out loud?
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201. Xavier would see his Milky Way ghetto
become our new throne world.
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202. You are twisting my words.
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203. High Council, for the sake of the empire,
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204. I must invoke the Rite of M'Dashaa.
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205. Terran, the rite requires...
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206. A non-Shi'ar pass a test of loyalty
in order to wed a royal.
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207. I finished that volume
my second day here, Deathbird.
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208. Not any mere test, Terran.
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209. A challenge of my own choosing.
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210. Then choose.
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211. To ensure we are protected
from your Terran ties,
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212. you must renounce Earth
and erase all memory of your life there.
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213. Charles is a formidable psychic.
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214. His mind will not be easily scrubbed.
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215. Luckily, we Shi'ar bow to a ruler
of equal psychic power.
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216. Charles Xavier
must purge all memories of Earth,
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217. and you, dear sister,
must be the one to do it.
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218. Sharra and K'ythri.
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219. Our highest gods.
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220. Mmm. Once enemies, then forced to marry
to bring harmony to the universe.
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221. And here I thought
the Shi'ar looked down on art
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222. as a sign of insanity and deviance.
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223. In most cases.
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224. But the union of Sharra and K'ythri
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225. is at the core of our principles.
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226. To bind various cultures into one
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227. for the sake of galactic peace
and harmony.
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228. How Rudyard Kipling of you.
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229. I do not know this Kipling.
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230. - A Terran?
- Yes.
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231. One possessed of many burdens.
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232. None real.
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233. Much like your myth.
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234. What is united if one half must be erased
for the sake of the whole?
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235. Idealism is also a sign of insanity.
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236. You know, I have a very old
and very dear friend on Earth
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237. who would agree with you.
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238. Wise, for a Terran.
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239. Yes.
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240. His name is Magnus.
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241. And I wish to remember him.
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242. You've made your decision, then?
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243. Forgive me.
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244. I do so love to think.
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245. Do you love me, Charles?
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246. A silly question.
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247. Even you know Deathbird's challenge
goes too far.
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248. On Earth, you fought tirelessly
to be tolerated
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249. and were nearly killed for it.
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250. Why remember?
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251. Why not let go?
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252. Start anew.
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253. If you refuse,
they won't let us be together.
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254. Not unless I forfeit my throne,
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255. which is exactly Deathbird's design.
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256. Imagine the chaos
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257. that my sister would unleash
across the galaxy as ruler.
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258. It would rival that of my mad brother.
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259. You saved my life.
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260. Gave me a home, a new future.
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261. Your devotion is beyond measure.
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262. Perhaps it is time to show you mine.
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263. There. That's it.
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264. Snowsnake Tower.
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265. Union forces stored weapons here
during the Civil War.
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266. It was actually built during
the Plains War decades earlier,
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267. by colonists.
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268. Those wars exterminated your people.
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269. Why let them build such a thing
into the very foundations of your land?
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270. Well, they said
that they were here to help.
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271. Sort of like how I came to you.
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272. I heard The Adversary
telling you to let me die.
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273. I'm so sorry, Ororo,
for deceiving you.
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274. For drawing the Adversary.
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275. Hush. The demon was not your doing.
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276. A big, evil owl that feeds on anger
and self-loathing?
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277. Call me chum in the water.
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278. Then I am chum, too.
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279. Before I lost my gifts,
I told a friend, my sister,
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280. that I often wondered about being human.
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281. I confessed this as if to console her.
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282. No matter how many I saved,
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283. my mutant gifts inspired
twice as much hate in humanity.
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284. In a way, your machine failing
is a blessing.
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285. I am better this way.
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286. Growing up,
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287. I always heard how the worst weapon used
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288. by the Europeans
was not bullets or blankets,
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289. but a white lie that they could make us...
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290. The cactus grows in darkness.
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291. Where?
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292. That's why I came.
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293. I know how you feel about tight spaces.
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294. Charles Xavier,
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295. do you stand in our circle
to complete the Rite of M'Dashaa?
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296. I do.
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297. And do you renounce all memories of Earth?
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298. Of your life there?
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299. I do.
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300. And of your X-Men?
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301. Xavier, do you renounce your X-Men?
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302. See?
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303. He hesitates.
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304. He insults all Shi'ar.
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305. This was exactly my fear.
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306. What you ask of him is no small burden.
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307. He seeks to ally us with Earth.
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308. My God, you are dramatic.
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309. How can we entrust our mighty empire,
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310. which has endured for eons,
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311. to a ruler descended of simians?
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312. Have our blood mixed
with his inferior freak fluids?
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313. Indeed.
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314. This Xavier is not even a pure Terran.
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315. A lower caste.
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316. A mutant.
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317. My sister, like my brother D'ken,
has gone mad.
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318. Renounce her before her lovesick lunacy
destroys us all.
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319. Sedition.
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320. Gladiator, arrest this treacherous vulture
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321. and any who dare to stand with her.
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322. By Sharra!
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323. Charles!
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324. Lilandra, behind you!
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325. - Hmm.
- No, not this way.
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326. I have forgotten my greatest gift.
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327. Hear me.
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328. Class is now in session.
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329. What is this? What have you done?
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330. Gladiator, please raise your hand
if you have a question.
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331. To answer, I have used
my vast psychic abilities
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332. to draw us into the astral plane.
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333. Now, pay attention.
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334. It is time for today's lesson.
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335. Oh!
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336. You had to be the bigger woman.
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337. Had to save him, be above it.
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338. Now look at you.
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339. No!
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340. Forge destroyed you!
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341. Yes.
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342. Yes, let me taste.
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343. Ooh, yummy!
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344. Fear poached in self-loathing.
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345. More! The high road, Storm.
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346. Last stop, you, pancaked
by the pressure of existing.
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347. How unfair.
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348. Yes. There.
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349. Yes! Always beg to be saved.
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350. Submit, and I will save you
and let you live your tempting daydream.
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351. No, you demon.
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352. Not a daydream.
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353. The X-Cutioner's neutralizer
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354. was not the only weapon
tamping down my gifts.
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355. There was that lie.
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356. And I believed it.
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357. Be warned.
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358. Be smart.
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359. Believe the lie.
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360. Deny your power.
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361. Play dead, or humanity
will thunder down upon you and your kind.
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362. You all are an echo of who I am.
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363. So let them thunder,
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364. for I am lightning!
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365. Strange, to feel grateful.
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366. Towards the demon?
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367. What are demons,
but reflections of our fears and shame?
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368. Things we bury within us,
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369. hide from loved ones,
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370. even as they poison our hearts...
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371. until we finally heal
our adversary by embracing it.
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372. There. It's starting to heal.
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373. So, what now?
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374. You've been given a second chance.
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375. Should we whisk away
to some tropical island?
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376. Not an entirely unpleasant idea.
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377. Nations refusing to allow mutants
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378. displaced by the brutal attack on Genosha
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379. to return to their home countries.
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380. This, as rumors swirl...
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381. - ... that Genosha is the opening salvo
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382. in the long-feared evolutionary war
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383. between humans and mutants
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384. that the late Professor Charles Xavier...
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385. Let's talk about power.
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386. Real power.
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387. Who can tell me from where
the Shi'ar Imperium draws its might?
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388. From the crushed skulls
that house inferior minds such as yours.
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389. Demerits. Raise your hand.
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390. The power of your empire is, in truth,
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391. a harvest of stolen worlds.
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392. Younger cultures
that, had they not been tilled to death,
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393. would now be empires rivaling your own.
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394. Fearing this, you strike at the knees
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395. and claim you can help them walk again.
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396. But only if they assimilate.
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397. Submit.
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398. Which brings us to this conclusion.
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399. The Shi'ar empire is a snake oil racket.
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400. Even you Terrans claim, "Might is right."
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401. The rhyme that sells the lie.
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402. That we must pillage worth
from one another.
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403. That for me to be more, you must be less.
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404. Your existence against mine because...
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405. Why?
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406. Says who? Who made up these silly rules?
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407. We did, beloved.
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408. Playing make-believe.
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409. Even if we were to agree,
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410. your idealism would confuse our people.
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411. They might even call it nonsense.
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412. Want to know a secret?
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413. Coexistence is messy.
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414. Thus, my love for education,
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415. for my X-Men.
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416. Their heroism teaches a lesson
we mustn't forget.
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417. That the universe is very old,
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418. and all of us, very young.
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419. Born of ancient stardust,
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420. and all children of the atom.
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421. Heavens, no!
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422. Gambit?
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423. No!
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424. They were dancing,
drinking wine, making love!
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425. Oh, my children!
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426. My children of the atom, destroyed!
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427. No!
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428. Charles!
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429. Beloved.
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430. What in the stars?
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431. I must return to Earth immediately.
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432. But we've nearly convinced the council.
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433. It doesn't matter!
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434. While I cowered in the cosmos,
the unthinkable has happened.
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435. Charles, if you leave,
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436. you will prove my sister right
about your kind.
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437. If that should end
our star-crossed affair,
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438. so be it.
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439. I will not abandon my kind.
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440. It is time I return to my X-Men.
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441. I did what you asked.
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442. I gave you my DNA to access Master Mold.
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443. Kill me, please,
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444. for what happened in Genosha.
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445. I beg you.
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446. Don't take all the blame, Bolivar,
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447. and don't fret the future.
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448. Why, Genosha was merely
the beginning of a prologue, now past.
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449. You have nothing to fear,
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450. so long as you place your faith
in Sinister.
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