X-Men '97 (2024) s01e03 Episode Script

Fire Made Flesh

1
[JEAN] Previously on X-Men
Maybe it's time to think of a life
beyond the X-Men?
[SCOTT] You mean leave the team?
[JEAN] What have we been
fighting for all these years
if not the chance
to finally live our lives?
[SCOTT] The X-Men need us here.
[JEAN] Our son will need us more.
Just ever since I was in Gyrich's mind,
I can't shake this feeling that
something terrible is coming.
Boy, do I sound like a fool.
No, Jean.
You sound like a mother.
Connection is a fragile treasure.
One we sacrifice so much to maintain.
Only to then sometimes
watch it break in a blink
that changes your life forever.
Jean?
[WEAKLY] I need the X-Men.
[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]
[JEAN] Her mind is dense,
vague in uncertain memories.
As if her awareness
was born only yesterday.
I see a den of confusion and pain.
Some sort of laboratory.
Then, escape.
Desperate. Alone.
One purpose
and hope.
A home?
- [GASPS]
- Darling, are you all right?
I'm fine, Scott.
But who she is or where she came from
remains a mystery.
Well, this isn't gonna get
confusing or anything.
Let's call this mystery gal
in the bed "Jean Doe".
All in favor?
Hmm. Every moment is a
new and shocking valuation
of all we have ever been.
My friends, words will
fail to prepare you.
But the Jean that lies on this couch
would appear to be the actual Jean Grey.
What do you mean,
the "actual Jean Grey"?
I used gamma rays
to isolate the hemoglobic properties
of both Jeans' genetic markers.
Effectively carbon dating
each woman on a cellular level.
Uh, English, sugar?
[HANK] Jean Doe is older,
the proper age.
Yours, while identical, is not.
Ergo, our Jean is a clone.
Impossible!
Jean, I assure you,
the science is sound.
But I have memories.
Her mind, it's just fragments.
Your science could have been manipulated
by someone with wicked intentions.
Scott, tell them.
Scott?
Beast, confirm your tests.
- [GLASS SHATTERS]
- [JEAN] Enough tests!
I am Jean Grey, member of the X-Men.
One of the first.
I've fought by your side
in countless battles,
given my life how many times?
You know me.
We just
have to be sure.
Storm would have believed me.
- [THUNDER RUMBLING]
- [NATHAN CRYING]
Shh. It's okay.
It's okay, my darling.
Please. Not now.
Jean, um, I can take him.
He's fine.
Beast's tests won't change the fact
that I'm Nathan's mother.
I know. No one is saying that.
Just
With the Professor and Storm gone,
and Magneto here,
it's been a lot for everyone.
Scott, I need you to trust me.
Trust the life we were going to build.
The life we brought into this world.
You and I.
Of course I trust that.
In us.
You never could lie to me, Scott.
But you always believed in me.
I don't know what to believe right now.
Just
go.
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
We should have left
when we had the chance.
We could still leave.
[MAN OVER RADIO] Jean.
Jean Grey.
Are you Jean?
Hello? Who's there?
- [MAN] Answers.
- [THUNDER CLAPS]
[BEEPING]
Time band's looking slick, Beast.
Must be ready soon.
Future's calling me.
Once I resolve matters
with our superfluous Jeans,
I'll be able to make
the final modifications
to send you back to your time.
[SCOTT] Bishop,
you said, in your future,
you hadn't heard
of Magneto taking over the X-Men.
What about this?
[BISHOP] Time isn't some
history book, man.
It's always writing.
Flipping back a few pages,
rewriting things,
skipping forward, headed in
Oh, my stars and garters.
Scott, you have to get Nathan.
Hank, what's wrong?
Scientists, like artists,
have signatures to their work.
I know who cloned Jean.
A man so dark and twisted,
he can be described
as nothing other than "sinister".
I don't understand.
Who are you?
[MAN OVER RADIO] Most
refer to me as Mister Sinister.
But you can call me Father.
- [THUNDER CLAPS]
- [JEAN] You!
Get away from us!
Mother and child,
what a touching display.
But you and your son are
meant for so much more.
Let me show you.
Never. You've brought nothing
but pain into our lives.
Kidnapping us, running
your science experiments
just so you could use
our genes to create
[GASPS] You want our son.
Nathan!
Yes. That's why I made you,
baked you.
So it's true.
I'm not Jean Grey?
Come to me.
Only I can usher you and
your son to your royal destiny.
You'll come nowhere near my son!
[MISTER SINISTER] Every
cell in you belongs to me.
Your mind, your body.
- You have no choice.
- [GROANS]
[MISTER SINISTER]
Time to wake up, my queen.
- [GROANS]
- Struggle, of course, is quite useless.
- My influence over your mind is flawless.
- [SCREAMS]
[MISTER SINISTER LAUGHS]
[NATHAN CRYING]
- [CRYING CONTINUES]
- Shh! Mommy's busy. [CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
[MISTER SINISTER]
Tell me your dark desire.
They shall know my inferno!
Ah, mon ami, maybe Gambit should
have played less rough with you
in the Danger Room, n'est-ce pas?
But the cards, they're wild.
Huh. Rematch, then?
Well, let's look at the schedule
and see who's up next.
Hmm, looks like Magneto and Rogue
have the Danger Room next.
Oh, and all tomorrow, too. Wow.
Rogue's really training her
stamina with the new boss.
It don't say that. They on patrol.
On second thought,
maybe Gambit go look
for Rogue right now.
- [LAUGHS]
- Cherchez la femme.
[CHUCKLES] Go easy on him, pal.
Think you just sent his hush puppies
up into his stomach. [LAUGHS]
Hit the shower.
I'm gonna go see about a redhead.
Well, one of 'em.
[SIGHS] And then there was Morph.
[MAN ON TV] As if he's obsessed with me.
[OMINOUS VOICE] Erasing me.
[WOMAN ON TV] Like he's out there.
[OMINOUS VOICE] Muties
Uh, do you see that?
Hello? That you, Gambit?
Logan?
One too many redheads for ya?
Here.
Need some help with those
hard-to-reach spaces?
[LOGAN IN DISTORTED VOICE]
Always with the jokes, eh, Morph?
As if I don't know.
As if we all don't know.
[SPEAKING FRENCH]
Say it ain't so.
Get on back to the swamp
with the rest of them nasty,
thieving critters, Remy.
- I have found myself a real man.
- [LAUGHS]
[ROGUE] A hero.
[GRUNTS]
[OMINOUS VOICE] Liar.
- [SPEAKING BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE]
- [GASPING]
No. Not you.
Not again!
[SCREAMS]
Jean? Nathan?
- No!
- [BISHOP] This can't be good.
[BOTH GRUNT]
[CACKLES] Demerits, my boy.
Failed to sire a child
with the proper wife.
Failed to lead the team.
- Flunk and failure.
- [GROANS]
[MAN] Naughty, naughty.
You abandoned me, Bishop.
Where's your home?
When is your time?
Where do you belong, brother?
No! You're not real!
[WOMAN] Failure!
Don't look at me like that.
- Don't look.
- This is not my son.
Mutant freak.
[BREATHING HEAVILY]
[GASPS] What was that thing?
- [ELEVATOR DINGS]
- Oh, dear.
I think one of us has the wrong floor.
[YELLS]
[BOTH COUGHING]
Cyclops, it's like the
worst horror movie ever.
The whole mansion's possessed.
[PANTING] Gambit can never unsee that.
Downstairs, now!
What the heck is going on?
Haven't you figured it out?
- We're in hell.
- [GROUND THUDDING]
[ROBERTO SCREAMING]
While I share Sinister's apparent
affection for Dante's Inferno,
I must ask how he's exerting
this much power
over our perceptions of reality.
No, this is The clone!
- Roberto, look out!
- [EXCLAIMS IN BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE]
[GRUNTS] "Beware the
Jabberwock, my son".
Not a Lewis Carroll fan.
- A little help, please.
- [BISHOP] Huh?
Yuck, you smell like burned hair.
[GRUNTS]
Yo, Cyclops. Hit me.
[GRUNTING]
[SCREAMS]
Time for an exorcism, punks!
[YELLING]
[BOTH] You're welcome.
- [RUMBLING]
- [DEMONIC SENTINEL] Burn, mutants!
[YELLING]
[JEAN] Enough!
[CYCLOPS] Jean.
- [JEAN GROANS WEAKLY]
- Jean.
- [GASPS SOFTLY]
- [CLONE JEAN] Pathetic.
What does he even see in you?
Sinister's controlling you.
You don't have to do this.
Who doesn't? Me?
Who am I?
Say my name, Scott.
No? Allow me.
I am beyond Jean Grey.
Beyond the X-Men.
I am scorn and fury,
forged in righteous brimstone.
I am the Goblin Queen.
This was just a taste of what
waits for you if you follow.
My suggestion?
Don't.
No!
[GRUNTS]
[ROBERTO] I guess we don't
get to finish the movie.
Now, who went and hired a stampede
of buffalo to do a home makeover?
Remy. Oh, I'm sorry, Remy.
Should've been here.
It okay, chère. Gambit okay now.
Cyclops, status report.
Sinister created the clone.
He made her so he could
get his hands on our son.
Mister Sinister?
Sinister's the most evil man
who ever existed.
He was a scientist in the 1800s.
Then he started cutting up mutants,
stealing our DNA to enhance himself,
prolong his life.
He can even take away their will.
I should know.
[YELLS] The voices!
There's too many!
She must not remember how
to entirely control her powers.
The sheer magnitude
of her psychic abilities
are overwhelming her.
[GRUNTS] How could I lead the team
when I can't even protect my own son?
My own
Her.
Sinister has plagued us far too long,
and it is time the madman pay
for his malevolent appropriations.
I can show you where he is.
[SCOTT] Are you sure, Morph?
I'm not gonna let him hurt anyone.
Rogue, Wolverine, Beast,
tend to our wounded.
I will lead the others
in a surgical strike.
Fine. Lead the way.
[BATS CHIRPING]
At last, the spawn of Scott
Summers and Jean Grey.
Do you know why you
are my greatest prize,
you random writhing thing of chance?
The combination of your
parents' unique genetics
makes your potential unlimited.
Your powers untold.
But first, you must
be made invulnerable.
A new breed of perfect creations
will be born this night
by my will and genius.
[LAUGHS MANIACALLY]
Fan out.
Remember, Jean is
Sinister's victim, too.
She's under his control.
[GOBLIN QUEEN] Better listen!
I know not what I do. [LAUGHS]
I knew you'd follow, Scott.
It's all you do. Just ask the Professor.
Fight Sinister.
Use the powers of your mind.
[GRUNTS]
I do not want to fight you, comrade.
I don't want to fight you, either.
I want you to fight for me.
Yes, my queen.
I am power!
[LAUGHS]
[GRUNTS]
Give us the boy, you brimstone clone.
I applaud your magnetism.
But my telekinetic charm
extends beyond mere metal.
[STRAINING]
Look at you, a villain playing
dress-up as a hero.
I should have you as a toy.
- [GROANS]
- [LAUGHS]
[GRUNTS]
I'm sorry. I didn't want to
[GOBLIN QUEEN SHUSHES]
Don't worry.
Mmm.
You'll bleed, too, darling.
[BATS CHIRPING]
[YELLING]
- Can't keep the voices out!
- Come on, Jeanie.
Like riding a bicycle.
Remember how to control it.
[JEAN PANTING]
Concentrate on my mind, Jeanie.
Just my mind. Right
here. I'm right here.
Such pain.
I must help.
You will. You always did.
Remember who you are.
What you mean to us.
To me.
[BREATHES DEEPLY] Logan.
I remember you.
Keep going. Deeper.
[JEAN GASPING]
I mean all that to you?
More.
Please, don't.
[SCREAMS]
[GASPS] Scott! He's in danger.
I have to go.
My dear, you are not going anywhere.
Your body is in no condition.
Beast, please. My body
won't be an issue.
- [GOBLIN QUEEN CACKLES]
- [JEAN] This ends now!
[BREATHING HEAVILY]
You!
Of course.
You took my face, my husband, my family.
And now my mind.
Enough violation!
I was Phoenix.
Me! Power incarnate!
[JEAN] Power?
Is that all you can remember?
Is she here?
Hello there.
Do you know who I am, Jean?
Mom and Dad called you to help fix me.
They say I think too much.
Don't worry.
All I do is think, too.
[JEAN] I remember this.
It felt like the first day
of the rest of my life.
But what happened?
When did we find our power?
[CAR HORN BLARES]
Annie, watch out!
Our best friend, she died.
It awakened our gifts.
All this pain.
We carry all of this?
No! It's my pain, not yours!
Please, let me help you.
Can you tell me who I am?
Can you say which of
these memories are yours
and which are mine?
Can you?
I-I think so.
We are what we remember.
And you remember nothing.
You are nothing!
[JEAN SCREAMS]
[CRYING]
[SCREAMING]
[PANTING]
[CRYING]
Oh, Scott.
[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
Look, he has your eyes.
[CHUCKLES] Well, doesn't he need a name?
I was thinking
Nathan.
How could I forget?
He's more than a memory.
He's a living reminder of the purest
love two people can share.
And no one can ever, ever
take that away from you.
This is the greatest moment of my life.
[WINCES]
[GROANING]
Let's go save Nathan.
[CRYING]
If only Xavier's orphans knew
the future we have in store for them.
What? Impossible.
[GROANS]
You stay away from our son!
Fools. You have doomed the boy.
[CYCLOPS GRUNTS]
Your powers are nothing against mine.
It's over, Sinister.
Is it now?
"Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home.
Your house is on fire
and your child all gone".
Oh, God. Nathan.
[COUGHING]
You monster! What have you done? [GASPS]
[HANK] It's a
Techno-Organic Virus strain.
Sinister was likely
exposing Nathan to it
in the hopes of making him invincible.
Figure it out, Beast, please.
Sinister's variant is too advanced.
It could take months, even
years, to develop a cure.
And the virus is already
spreading rapidly.
There's no time.
So what you're saying is
not here, not in our time.
But what if there's a
cure in yours, Bishop?
In the future.
Beast's nearly fixed your time band.
I do know a guy there.
Smart. Can build anything.
This band only got enough
juice for Nathan and I.
Meaning we can't go with you.
No, no, no, there has to be another way.
I won't be like my father.
I won't abandon my son.
[JEAN] We said we'd give him
the best possible future.
- [NATHAN FUSSING]
- [JEAN] It's what we promised.
Don't any of you know how
it feels to be abandoned?
I won't have him feel that.
He won't feel abandoned.
I promise.
I can't be a part of this.
I'm sorry.
[NATHAN CRYING]
[CLONE JEAN] There'll be days
when you're lonely or scared,
where you ask yourself why we did this?
Was something wrong?
But you are perfect, my baby.
Know in our time here,
we thought about you endlessly.
How your voice would sound,
your laughter,
how you'd smile.
We love you so much, Nathan.
But owe you nothing less
than the best possible future.
- And that is one without us in it.
- [NATHAN COUGHING]
[NATHAN CRYING]
[JEAN] Remember.
Wait.
This is your home, too.
How much do you remember?
It's strange, but most everything.
Then you know how much
I've wanted to go,
to start a new life.
It's not fair.
We don't know when Sinister switched us.
Who really was the Phoenix.
Which of us married Scott.
All we have now is the future.
An unknowable future
built on an unknowable past.
My next life will be mine.
Take care, Jean.
Call me Madelyne Pryor.
[JEAN] Farewell, Madelyne.
[MADELYNE] Farewell, Jean.
[MAN ON RADIO] Oh,
it's another hot one, Dallas,
with no relief in sight.
Stay hydrated. Looks like this
year drought's sticking around.
Shame about the weather.
No summer like a Texas summer.
What I wouldn't give if someone
could just make it rain.
Speak plainly, who are you?
Name's Forge, Storm.
An old friend of Charles Xavier.
I'd like to help you get
back what you've lost.
[CAPTIVATING INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]
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